It is the first week of January and a brand-new decade full of possibilities.
According to my (very rigorous) research, for those who make resolutions, these are the most popular: lose weight, exercise more, advance professionally, spend more time with family and friends, quit bad habits, like smoking and drink less alcohol (wow, is "dry January" ever popular!), save more money, learn something new, read more and volunteer to help a cause.
I personally find this list too overwhelming, and I admit I’m not one for resolutions anyway. For me, it’s more about trying to do a bit better every day of the year.
But if resolutions are your thing, here’s my twist on the most popular ones — from a privacy perspective.
You can lose “weight” by doing this great privacy exercise: an inventory of your personal information holdings. You know this is good privacy hygiene and can lead to only collecting what’s necessary and disposing of what you no longer need. And don’t skip doing a privacy impact assessment when you know one is necessary. Just do it!
Advance professionally, network and learn new things through the IAPP and all it has to offer. Take the training, in person and online. This year, get yourself certified; it makes a difference in the job market. Participate in and network with privacy pals at your local KnowledgeNet. Budget to attend the Canadian Privacy Symposium in May. And save yourself some money by booking early!
When it comes to helping a good cause, start organizing a spectacular Data Privacy Day to help raise awareness of privacy in your organization. Consider volunteering for the IAPP. And how about participating in legislative reform in some way so you can help shape the future of our privacy laws? You don’t have to work in government or be a member of Parliament to share insights, offer direction for consideration or encourage movement.
As for less drinking, well, you should know that I write this every Thursday evening with a martini in hand, so I’m not one to talk. But given that this goes out every Friday morning, I do not recommend that you read it while drinking one yourself.
As for reading more, nowadays this can take so many forms. Sure, you can promise to read 100 new novels in the upcoming year (and this is something I want to do more of). Or you can promise to always read this digest and get your colleagues to sign up to read it, too.
Now, isn’t this a little less daunting?
Happy new year and all great things for 2020.