A decade of making the world more privacy friendly.
What does Privacy Company mean to you?
Privacy Company to me means ‘in good company’ above all. Working together with nice smart people on an important issue. And what a team of great people we have. Different people from different backgrounds with a shared passion. We have privacy superstars who are just incredibly nice people and we help each other. For me, the best team in the world.
Company also means running a business. We are a company and that is a conscious choice. We have to make sure we can exist and earn every euro ourselves. We have to do things that are relevant to our customers. That is different from always saying what the customer wants to hear. Our focus and independence have brought us where we are today.
Why is 10 years important?
On the one hand, it is just a number. On the other, it is a confirmation that we are still here and still relevant. From the outside, you often only see the successes. 10 years also means overcoming hard times and setbacks. We have done that. That has made us stronger.
What were the highlights?
So many experiences in 10 years that any experience you pick out short-changes other experiences. And everyone who works for us has their own experiences again. As you can see from the photos, the trip to Maastricht was definitely a highlight.
The first customer, the first website, the first tender won, the first release of our software and the first time in the media were of course highlights too. And so were many more. The branch in Berlin, the franchise in Croatia. Winning a privacy award. And the impact of our investigations into Big Tech. Also just that smile or tear in a specific moment could be the most important thing in the world. Sometimes the highlights are big, like Sjoera in the New York Times with a big article about our work. And sometimes they are less grand but still relevant, like a client sending flowers in difficult times.
Who have made a difference?
Everyone who works or has worked with us has made a difference. Sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. And of course, our customers and partners. I am very grateful to all of them. For me personally, the cooperation we have in the Management Team, working with Arnold, Anne Martine and Marlies has made all the difference. And if you ask our clients or a colleague of mine, you get very different names again. And that's how it should be. The power lies in the combination, not in the individuals.
You are on a mission to make the world more privacy friendly. What does that entail?
People have a fundamental right to privacy. In practice, organisations do not always manage to give it sufficient protection. There may be good reasons for this. The subject may be complicated, there may be a shortage of people or certain expertise. We are happy to help. We make the world more privacy friendly by using our knowledge for our customers, by raising awareness of the subject and by making software that makes it easier to be compliant.
We also share a lot of knowledge through presentations, webinars and blogs. And ask our customers to make our work publicly available, if it is suitable. This does not always succeed, but when it does, the whole world can use it. For example, someone in South America had translated our report into Spanish to enable schools in South America to better curb their privacy risks. We really appreciate that.
The mission continues?
Definitely! There is still a lot of work to do, and the topic is becoming more relevant rather than less. Consider Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, where privacy rights such as access, correction and deletion come under pressure. There will also be new issues about personal data generated from training data. And, of course, the associated ethical and security questions.
By the way, I am not a sceptic or against technological development. We are of course aware that in many places, compliance with privacy rules and principles can and sometimes must be much better. We are lucky to work with customers who generally want to do business according to the right standards. For our clients, there is also clear value in this, as it helps them increase the trust of their customers, patients, tenants, citizens, employees and the outside world. Even setting an example in their market, sometimes. A great example is Zoom who embraced our findings and made their product much more privacy-friendly on that basis. This is how we make the world a little better together.
