PrivCom's Commitments to an Inclusive Society

Similar to "Choice", Opportunities is what keeps PrivCom focused on creating safe spaces for individuals and entities to share what they need, how they view privacy, and where they want to be regarding understanding and application of privacy. PrivCom is focused on helping with resources, guidance and support to get there!

PrivCom is an accountable and responsible entity. We are an independent office, so we assist both public and private entities, and the entire community.

Policy focuses on holding our office accountable for inclusion. We don't only take inclusion seriously, we ensure that there are activities and initiatives truly deliver on our inclusion policy.

At PrivCom, we have a human-approach that governs our engagement with the community. This means that we think about what we need to say to support, when we need to be there to assist, who will help with diverse needs, and how we will support organisations & individuals based on needs and interests.

A handshake, introduction or even a conversation can be a start to a collaboration or partnership. Many great projects started informally. PrivCom values our connections with people, groups and organisations. Partnerships help to bind us together and grow innovative opportunities.

PrivCom's Innovation, Policy and Training (IPT) Officer is a dedicated role that explores ways to introduce international privacy best practices and initiatives to our local community through guidance and simplified materials.

Choice and inclusion go hand in hand as choice refers to identifying what an individual can do. PrivCom offers lot of options for individuals to take advantage of to demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity. The more support that we have, the more likely more diverse people will get involved with protecting their personal information and data belonging to others.

PrivCom's engagement activities use the "Inclusion Spectrum" approach to inclusion to support people of all abilities that require support to protect their personal information by considering the different ways an individual may need help, get in touch, or even partner with our office. This process is useful in identifying the needs and wants to provide a range of assistance options. We embrace new ideas and ways to provide our services, so we remain open-minded, often welcome advice from the public and create opportunities to share concerns, questions, and thoughts through sectoral advisory groups, listening tours, and feedback surveys.

Examples of PrivCom's training and engagement activities using the "Inclusion Spectrum" approach:

Open: A simple training event based on a well-known data privacy topic that the general public can understand with little or no modifications, i.e., PrivCom's Know Your Rights training

Modified: The same event as the Open example with activities (breakout rooms or teams) to challenge and support smaller groups with varying levels of understanding of privacy and abilities, i.e., PrivCom's Create a Culture of Privacy training (group and team activities)

Parallel Workshop: Participants are grouped according to level of understanding of PIPA and privacy best practices; training topics are the same but tailored for various audiences or competency levels, i.e., training for Privacy Officers vs training for primary school students.

Separate Activity: An individual or group does a tailored, planned, and different activity, i.e., privacy consultation or privacy careers coaching session

Specialized Training: Training designed for a specific entity with topics chosen by participants and activities based on levels of understanding, i.e., training tailored to help an organisation learn more about privacy policies to improve their privacy programme

We don't just talk the talk; we walk the walk at PrivCom! There is a gap between just wanting to be inclusive and actually doing something about it. Our team approaches individuals with a positive attitude and a commitment to take real action to support all individuals.

And we took it a step further by welcoming an Inclusion and Engagement Officer whose is dedicated to ensuring inclusion in PrivCom's from policies and procedures to training, events, brochures and guidance materials.

We recognise that inclusivity is beyond physical space. The feel, the environment, the culture plays a part in what people experience. We aim to ensure that individuals have access to the privacy support that they need, and if they require something that we cannot provide, we make every effort to direct them to the department or individuals that can assist.