‘Balance, trust and partnership key to data protection strategy’
The new man at the head of the Data Protection Authority in Guernsey has said he wants to continue to advance the island’s leadership position in financial services through data protection.
Brent Homan has moved from Canada, where he was deputy commissioner of its Privacy Commissioner, to take up the local role in succession to Emma Martins, who left the role at the end of her term of office in December 2023.
‘Guernsey has established progressive privacy legislation, carefully aligned with European and UK laws, and Emma and her team have done an outstanding job in building a highly effective data protection authority,' he said.
‘Given the prominence of Guernsey as a global financial services hub, it will be an honour to contribute to advancing its leadership position through strong and supportive regulatory oversight.’
His interest in the subject was sparked while working in competition regulation, focusing on misleading advertising in e-commerce and the growing misuse of personal information in mass marketing fraud schemes.
‘The more I have learned about data protection, the more I realised that this was destined to be the key regulatory sphere for supporting a vibrant, data-driven global economy, where privacy and other fundamental human rights are respected.
‘Witnessing the evolution of info-driven tech innovation and its accompanying societal and economic promise and risks, this certainly appears to be a critical era for data protection regulation.
‘Authentic collaboration is of paramount importance to me and I can’t wait to meet Guernsey’s public and private sector stakeholders, understanding the data protection challenges they face and promoting superior data protection practices throughout the Bailiwick.’
He has said that his priorities in the role are to embrace compliance while elevating levels of trust and consumer confidence.
The pillars to support the strategy are balance, trust and partnership, and to embrace ‘proactive compliance’ while being aware of the potential and risks of technological innovation, while raising awareness of the risks of breaches of the law,
Mr Homan has described the job as a unique opportunity, and said that the process of moving to Guernsey and taking up the role had been ‘highly supportive and invigorating’.
