The main topic of the conference organised by Instituto Superior Técnico and LCG Consulting S.A. was the impact of the new general data protection regulation in the public sector, which will take effect six months from now.
The conference on the General Data Protection Regulation held at Técnico on November 7 was attended by the rector of Universidade de Lisboa who expressed “great concern about the application of this regulation”. The president of Técnico, professor Arlindo Oliveira, shares the same concern and poses a question “Is it possible to guarantee the enforcement of the Data Protection Principles?” without “prejudice to the services with more bureaucracy than that which already exists”. According to the president of Técnico “we can’t comply with the impossible” and “it’s nearly impossible to ensure compliance with all procedures and restrictions of this regulation”.
“This regulation comes along at a difficult time for Universidade de Lisboa because we have just reorganised our internal structure”, said the pro-rector of Universidade de Lisboa, professor Carlos Ribeiro, who also attended the conference.
The regulation foresees the creation of a Data Protection Officer who will work with a multidisciplinary team.
According to Francisco Vasconcelos, from the National Cyber security Centre, it is fundamental “to guarantee a resilient and safe information system that allows data collection whenever it is asked” and “some bureaucracy will be necessary to avoid leak of information”.
