The findings presented in this two-part report are the result of a collaborative research project between the IAPP and EY studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on privacy teams around the world.

Two surveys of privacy professionals were fielded: the first one in April, and the second one in mid-October/early November of 2020. These surveys gauged the responses of privacy professionals, in particular, and organizations, in general, to a range of issues, including remote work, employee health monitoring and the adoption of new technology.

It also looked at how COVID-19 was reshaping the priorities of organizations, day-to-day tasks of privacy professionals, and staffing and budgets of privacy teams. Public-private data-sharing arrangements, steps involved in expediting privacy and security reviews, and contracts with third-party vendors to process sensitive employee health information related to COVID-19 all also fell within the scope of the study.