Our unique ‘PrivacyMentors’ Service

An innovative and affordable solution to an all too common problem.

Only £125 sign-up fee + £25 per half hour pay as you go, or £725 per year if paid in

advance

who is it for?

It can be lonely being a data protection officer. We know; we’ve been there. It’s especially lonely - and can be quite bewildering - if you’re new to data privacy. In an ideal world, your business would bring in a ready-minted data protection officer or, if recruiting from within, would send their newly-appointed DPO on training courses to at least learn the theory before being expected to do the job in practice. Back in the real world, that rarely happens. Time and budget constraints mean it’s still more usual for an existing employee to be given the additional responsibility of data privacy on top of their ‘day job’: sink or swim. That can work out well but it’s not easy, particularly if your DPO is to fulfil the role and remit of an official Data Protection Officer under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which carries significant responsibility. Even if you’re an old hand at data privacy, there are times when every DPO would like a neutral but expert second opinion, or just someone to bounce ideas off who speaks the language of DP. We’re here to help: our PrivacyMentors service can help your DPO (or you, if you are that DPO) swim rather than sink!

This service is ideal for:

• Any business that has a data protection officer, or someone responsible for data privacy, whether or not that’s their job title, in place who needs some support and guidance. • Anyone who’s recently been given responsibility for data privacy • Anyone who’s ‘looking after’ data privacy until their organisation appoints a formal DPO • Anyone new to the world of data privacy • Anyone seeking to move into data privacy from another specialism • Any data privacy professional - new or seasoned pro - who would like to be able to call upon a fellow DP expert from time to time

What is it?

PrivacyMentors is an ongoing support and mentoring service for your DPO - or for you, if you are that DPO - that offers support and guidance tailored to their/your needs and at an affordable cost. This isn’t a replacement for formal training, qualifications or experience, although we can include an element of training in the programme if required. It’s more like having a trusted expert colleague who’s there when you need them. Thre exact nature of the support and how we structure it is up to you (and your DPO). We’ll have an initial chat with your DPO about their concerns, their aspirations, their strengths and the things that challenge them and then help them in the way that best works for them. That might be just by being at the end of the phone so they can bounce ideas off someone who understands Data Privacy, it might be by giving a second opinion on a difficult issues or suggesting different ways of handling a situation. It might be by having regular chats to discuss different aspects of data privacy; it might be by helping them work out the risks and benefits of a particular course of action, or simply by helping them understand an area of data privacy they’re not clear about. Whatever is needed - we’ll tailor our service to fit.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is at the heart of PrivacyMentors, and of our business. In the course of mentoring, you will need to discuss information about your work and the company you work for as well as personal information about yourself. Any information of any kind that is discussed remains confidential both during and after mentoring. Where the mentoring service is purchased by an employer for their DPO, for billing purposes we may need to share details of hours taken but the content of all mentoring discussions will remain confidential to the individual DPO and their mentor. If you are a DPO purchasing mentoring for yourself, we will not disclose any information to your employer unless you specifically ask us to do so.

How does it work?

Simple. We have an initial consultation to discuss the support you’re looking for, then agree a support package that works for and around you. We know that some DPOs may need or want to fund this themselves, so we offer a choice of two payment options:

All-inclusive: £725 per person year paid in advice.

This includes: • Registration fee + 12 hours of mentoring support (online, by phone, e-mail or face to face as agreed). • Initial consultation • Quick check-up call every quarter to see how you’re doing • Additional support time beyond the 12 hours can be purchased at a discounted rate of £15 per half hour. Pay As You Go: £125 registration fee + £25 per half hour Registration fee includes: • Initial consultation (by phon, online, or in person as agreed) • Quick check-up call every quarter to see how you’re doing

A few things to know:

• With the all-inclusive package, mentoring is transferrable once during the year, so if your DPO moves on, their successor can still use the remainder of that year’s services. • If you’ve chosen the all-inclusive package, it’s up to you how and when you take the 12 hours of support! Although it works out at an hour per month, you might prefer to keep it all for ad hoc queries through the year, or perhaps you’d like to have a half hour chat every fortnight. You could even take it as 2 blocks of 6 hours’ more formal coaching/training - subject to availability, of course. Whatever works for you. • However you choose to use thet time, you must use all 12 hours within the membership year. We may, at our discretion and with advance notice, allow you to roll some time over into the following year but only in exceptional circumstances. • Mentoring time does not have to be taken during office hours. We are happy to schedule time in at weekends or evenings, subject to availability and with a little advance notice. • If you prefer to meet face to face (location and Covid-19 rules permitting), we can come to your office or meet at a suitable external venue such as a coffee shop. If, for reasons of confidentiality, you feel a private meeting room is required, we can arrange this but room hire will be charged to the organisation or individual who has purchased the Privacy Mentors service. • If face to face support is provided, we will normally charge you mileage at the current HMRC rate.