At Microsoft, we work every day to earn our customers’ trust by building cloud services that meet the highest standards for security, privacy, compliance and transparency.
During the recent 2017 International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C., we spoke with customers and partners about the opportunities and challenges they’re tackling, and listened to what they’d like Microsoft to focus on to help them achieve their goals. The discussions were great and we returned home from D.C. with the benefit of insightful feedback and new questions.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was in nearly every conversation. We are committed to embracing the pro-privacy stance of the GDPR; to developing technical capabilities to support compliance regulations; and to sharing the expertise and insights we’ve developed while working at the intersection of privacy, compliance and technology.
With more than 3,000 attendees this year, we want to thank everyone who met with us, attended our sessions, and advanced the discourse around the GDPR. And big thanks to the IAPP for hosting this meaningful event.
Microsoft’s chief privacy officer, Brendon Lynch receives IAPP’s Vanguard Award
While at the annual summit, we honored the exceptional work of those who have shaped privacy values and innovative technologies as we know them today.
Referred to as a “privacy titan,” Microsoft’s chief privacy officer, Brendon Lynch was recognized with IAPP’s Vanguard Award – which honors privacy professionals who show exceptional leadership, knowledge and creativity in the field of privacy and data protection.
“No one exemplifies excellence in our field in a greater magnitude than Brendon Lynch,” said Trevor Hughes, IAPP CEO and president, CIPP. “He has shown the dedication and diligence to our profession that demonstrates a true professional, someone who believes that this is more than just a job.”
The IAPP selected Lynch based on his numerous accomplishments during 17 years as a privacy leader, his commitment to the global privacy community, and his positive impact on the profession.
“Those of us on the IAPP Board were so proud to honor Brendon with the Vanguard Award for his tremendous contributions to the field of privacy,” said Kalinda Raina, executive committee member of the IAPP board of directors and LinkedIn head of global privacy. “Throughout his career, Brendon has served as a thought leader and a mentor to so many of us in the field, and for that we are all indebted.”
GDPR sets a new bar for digital privacy rights, security and compliance
Microsoft believes that the GDPR is an important step forward for clarifying and enabling individual privacy rights. But there’s a lot to do. To help get you started, at the summit and online we released a whitepaper, “Beginning your General Data Protection Regulation journey.” We encourage you to check it out and learn how these four steps, detailed in our whitepaper, can help simplify your GDPR compliance journey:
- Discover: Identify what personal data you have and where it resides.
- Manage: Govern how personal data is used and accessed.
- Protect: Establish security controls to prevent, detect, and respond to vulnerabilities and data breaches.
- Report: Action data requests, report data breaches and keep required documentation.
Partnering with you now and in the future
Microsoft and our partners can help you manage and protect personal data, whether you need assistance with policies, processes, or technology.
Microsoft is committed to GDPR compliance across our cloud services when enforcement begins on May 25, 2018. We are the first global cloud services provider to publicly offer you contractual commitments to meet GDPR requirements of processors.
As we countdown to when the GDPR goes into effect, Microsoft will continue to listen to your needs, to innovate, and share best practices with you. Please visit www.microsoft.com/GDPR to learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to privacy, the GDPR and Microsoft’s perspective on how to begin your GDPR journey.