International Data Protection Day - 2021

International Data Protection Day is an annual global event and effort to create awareness of the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. The IRMS applauds and supports this event. 

The Society's membership, of course, includes professionals who either have data protection directly within their remit or work closely with colleagues who do. We have established a dedicated special interest group for Information Rights and have been closely involved in the Dapian digital Data Protection Impact Assessment programme. Generally, records management underpins data protection by ensuring information is properly handled - in terms of accuracy, lawfulness, availability, integrity, protection, retention and disposal - from planning and creation through to ultimate disposition. 

More widely, we are delighted to see advocacy and education that raises awareness of privacy and data protection for everyone, especially for consumers, families and individuals, in understanding the importance of protecting the privacy of their personal information online. 

Leveraging the work we have already undertaken in the Schools sector, we are keen as part of our advocacy strategy to continue to grow our engagement with government and all levels of the education sector. The aim of this is to both promote information and records management as an important and vibrant profession, and to raise awareness of information rights and cybersecurity within the student community across schools, further and higher education.

Overall, we will continue to promote the principles of good practice in information and records management and the work of our profession that will ensure personal data is handled in a lawful, ethical, secure and effective basis, building that all important trust.

Reynold Leming

Chair