Hello, privacy pros.

This week, we celebrated International Women’s Day and, if you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the IAPP’s LinkedIn Live session, "Women Leading Tech & Privacy" to hear some of privacy’s most senior leaders discuss areas for greater opportunities for women in 2021. I’m grateful to work in an industry with such strong gender diversity at all levels — it benefits us all.

According to the Korea Herald, the South Korean government is asking citizens to use an encrypted personal identifier to register their attendance at high-risk venues for COVID-19 contract-tracing purposes. This new privacy-protecting measure rolled out last month as an alternative to individuals providing their phone numbers on visitor logs. The encrypted identifier can be obtained through a handful of Korea’s popular electronic services and can be decrypted by authorities for timely contact tracing.

Airlines around the world have been swept up in a data breach targeting IT vendor SITA. So far, the breach appears to include frequent flyer data, such as membership number, member name and status. Japan Times reports on the impact on ANA and JAL customers, and ZDNet provides an update on the impact on Singapore Airlines’ frequent fliers. Not to make light of the incident, but if any hackers out there are interested in my frequent flier status, the global lockdown is reducing it to zero.

The New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner published its Terms of Reference for a joint inquiry with the Independent Police Conduct Authority, which was originally prompted by police taking pictures of Māori young people in Wairarapa in August 2020. The Terms of Reference broadens the scope of key issues under consideration, particularly, evaluating the general photographing of members of the public by police.

Over the next couple of weeks, there are many opportunities for privacy professionals to connect and learn at IAPP KnowledgeNets across the region. Be sure to register and join your fellow privacy pros at the following events:

• 15 March, Brisbane/Gold Coast (virtual) — Designing for ‘Better Disclosures’
• 17 March, Bangalore (virtual, in English) — Exploring Markets and Regulations for Non-Personal Data
• 23 March, Australia/New Zealand (virtual) — Digital Privacy and Smartphones: Finding the Consent Sweet Spot
• 25 March, Auckland (virtual and in-person!) — Cyber Security Threat Update
• 25 March, Thailand (virtual, in English) — PDPA Panel Discussion with the PDPC

I hope to see you at an upcoming KnowledgeNet and wish you all the best until next time.