‘Protect your personal data’ seminar cum webinar on 5 July

A webinar on Data Protection Act will be held on 5 July at the Movenpick Hotel Colombo from 2 to 5 p.m.

The Keynote Addresses will be delivered by ICTA General Counsel Jayantha Fernando and Attorney-at-Law Samantha de Soysa LL.B (Hons.) (Warwick), Barrister (Lincoln’s Inn), LL.M (Lon.), who will present an international and domestic overview of the regulatory regimes. 

Dr. D.C. Jayasuriya PC will make a special address on ‘Issues and Concerns’, Sarath Jayamanne PC on ‘Managing Penal Sanctions’, and ‘Implementation Strategies’ by Attorney-at-Law Sanduni Wickramasinghe, LLM (Leiden), LLB (Colombo), B.Sc. in IT (Middlesex). Attorney-at-Law Malik Cader will moderate the proceedings.

Organisers said in daily face-to-face interactions with financial institutions and other businesses as well as in the use of the internet, a vast amount of personal information tends to be shared. Sometimes unwittingly individuals tend to provide answers to questions that have no direct relevance to the matter under consideration. 

People rarely question as to why some items of information pertaining to their private lives are required. Occasionally, the entity that sought the information requests you to indicate whether the information can be shared with other business as well. Due to dishonest employees within an organisation having access to sensitive information or as a result of cyber-attacks, your personal details can get into the wrong hands. 

Imagine you getting up one morning and going to your bank only to discover that the account shows a nil balance when you should have millions or thousands of rupees in the account.

The newly enacted Personal Data Protection Act will go a long way to minimise opportunities to make use of your personal data for unwarranted or illegal purposes. The Preamble to the Act sets out in concise terms the rationale for this piece of legislation.

Whereas it has become necessary to facilitate the growth and innovation in the digital economy in Sri Lanka whilst ensuring the protection of personal data rights of the data subjects.

And whereas it has become necessary to improve interoperability among personal data protection frameworks as well as to strengthen cross-border cooperation among personal data protection enforcement authorities.

And whereas it has become necessary for the Government of Sri Lanka to provide for a legal framework to provide for mechanisms for the protection of personal data of data subjects ensuring consumer trust and safeguarding privacy whilst respecting domestic written laws and applicable international legal instruments.

When the requirements of the Act come into full force, individuals can have greater comfort that whatever information shared with a bank, a finance company, a hospital or a public authority will be reasonably safe. 

Full implementation of the Act will have to be phased in over a period of several months or years but financial institutions and other businesses need to set in motion now the process of becoming compliant.  

For registration, 

Call Shireen - +94 76 661 7748 

James - +94 70 642 0642 

Mail - [email protected].