Privacy Awareness Month: Getting involved in 2017
This year NSW is celebrating Privacy Awareness Month (PAM) under the theme: ‘How healthy is your privacy?’ This provides an opportunity for all organisations to reflect on how they handle the NSW public’s personal and health information.
PAM provides an excellent opportunity to encourage your organisation's staff to remember their privacy obligations under NSW legislation; i.e. both the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Protection Act 2002.
When celebrating PAM, have a think - is there any other privacy compliance staff that you work closely with? Consider joining forces to coordinate promotional material and activities for your organisation.
Think about launching significant new privacy documents in May! Have you developed or updated privacy material, a privacy management plan, or privacy policy? Consider launching them during Privacy Awareness Month, May 2017.
Host an event
If you would like to host an event, tell us about it so we can share it on this webpage and spread the word! Simply contact us at the Information and Privacy Commission NSW with your event name, style, location, date and time, whether it's open to the public, and if attendees need to register provide a link or contact details. We will share your event online.
Get staff involved - write and talk about it
Get people talking and send an email to all staff at the beginning of Privacy Awareness Month explaining the aims of the month and reminding people of their privacy responsibilities in the workplace. Ask your CEO/Secretary or agency head to send out this email as a way of showing your organisation's overall commitment to good privacy practice.
How about publishing an article about privacy on your intranet? What are the privacy challenges that the organisation and staff face? How can these challenges be met? Consider also publishing the article in your organisation's newsletter or on the website. How does your organisation effectively address privacy challenges? Download a suggested news copy and upload it on your organisation’s intranet today!
Display it
Design posters for the event and consider adding your details to advertise your role as your organisation's privacy contact officer. Prepare a log-in screen for all of your organisation's computers that contain messages reminding staff of the importance of privacy. Or why not display one, or all, of the Office of the NSW Privacy Commissioner’s posters around your office and provide privacy materials in your office breakout areas. Click here to see what resources are available for you to use.
Be privacy aware
Prepare a log-in/screensaver/pop-up, for your organisation's computers containing messages reminding staff of the importance of protecting personal information, put some privacy taglines in staff email signatures reminding staff and stakeholders you value privacy or use the suggested version on the resources page.
Talk about it
Hold a training/information session on privacy. This could be a detailed training session that you schedule during the month, or perhaps just a simple information session outlining issues around collection and security of personal information.
Why not get one of the specialists from the Information and Privacy Commission to come to your office and provide a lecture or attend a morning tea? Contact our office and we can organise an attendee.
Tweet it
Why not see how much momentum we can generate behind these hashtags: #HealthyPrivacy #PAW2017 and #ShareWithCare
