NAB sets up a global privacy office

NAB has set up a global privacy office under chief data officer Glenda Crisp with a remit to safeguard customer data and champion privacy culture and data ethics within the bank.

The bank has secured the services of Cochlear’s chief privacy officer Stephen Bolinger, who has taken the role of general manager for data privacy and ethics within the global privacy office, reporting directly to Crisp.

It is now in the process of expanding staff numbers in the privacy office, though a spokesperson for the bank did not comment to iTnews on its planned size.

In a statement to iTnews, Crisp said the global privacy office had been set up for compliance reasons as well as to seed good data practice across the bank’s operations.

“Data has forever been a banking commodity but with rapid digitisation occurring across the global economy data privacy and protection has become hugely important,” Crisp said.

“To keep pace with digitisation and changing customer expectations, last year we established the global privacy office to help us safeguard any personal information we hold about customers or employees and to ensure we are meeting our regulatory obligations across many different global regions.

“We’re acutely aware of the trust customers place in us to keep their money and information safe and we’re investing in a number of different ways to help us achieve that.

“We want data experts throughout our organisation with the skills to critically assess new technology as it emerges, with an appreciation of both technical and ethical considerations of managing and storing data and keeping it safe for our customers.”

In addition to his new role at NAB, which he has held for about a month, Bolinger is currently the Australian country leader for the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

He has also previously held a series of legal roles for Microsoft in the UK, EMEA and the US.

NAB is currently hiring for a consultant role in the global privacy office.

The job description indicates that the office may work with “internal and/or external clients”, suggesting it could have a role with NAB’s partners or even large customers.

It further suggested the office would be tasked with “identifying potential areas of privacy compliance vulnerability and risk and leading NAB teams to develop and implement corrective action plans for resolution of problematic issues”; and in reinforcing multi-layered defences aimed at reducing the risk of privacy incidents.

Crisp revealed last year that NAB is using Europe’s “high-water benchmark” on data privacy as guardrails for its own expanding analytics ambitions,  designing its data architecture to meet foreseeable higher standards of privacy in the domestic market.