On Wednesday, 28 Jan., the Cayman Islands joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Data Protection Day.
Some Ombudsman office staff members spent part of the day meeting with interested members of the public in front of the Ombudsman offices at Anderson Square, answering questions about data privacy and access rights while also providing some promotional material to visitors. Approximately 100 members of the public stopped by the information booth to learn more about data protection rights.
Cayman’s Data Protection Act (DPA), which came into effect on 30 Sept. 2019, contains important rights for individuals, including the right to be informed about how personal data is being used. Individuals also have the right to request corrections to inaccurate personal data, to object to direct marketing and to request access to their personal data.
The DPA also sets rules for the use of personal data by public and private sector organisations based on eight core principles. Those include fairness, adequacy, retention and security of personal data processing, among other requirements.
The Office of the Ombudsman is tasked with oversight and enforcement of the DPA. Individuals have the right to complain to the Ombudsman if they believe their data is not being processed legally or fairly.
The DPA requires personal data breaches to be reported to the Ombudsman and affected data subjects. The most common data breach notifications involve instances where emails containing personal data have been inadvertently sent to unintended recipients. Individuals who have concerns about how their data is being used by organisations can make a complaint to the Ombudsman for investigation under the DPA.
People can visit the Ombudsman website for more information including FAQs, guidance and other resources to help them understand their data protection rights and obligations or can send their questions to: [email protected]. They can also check the Ombudsman social media channels this week at Facebook and LinkedIn to learn more about data protection rights.
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