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The director of the Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT), Meritxell Borràs, highlighted today the role of data protection officers (DPO) in defending people's right to privacy. In the context of the awarding ceremony of the first edition of the CODI TIPUS awards, organized by the Catalan Union of Hospitals, Borràs has defended that the role of data protection officers in organizations is essential for effective compliance of the regulation.
However, he regretted that they are often seen as an obstacle for the organization, and not as facilitators to achieve adequate processing of personal data. He insisted that it is essential to incorporate DPOs from the beginning, and to integrate privacy by design and by default in the projects in the current health field, where technologies are more used in pacients prevention, diagnosis and treatments.
The director added that on many occasions personal data are the basis of health research and that is why they are collected massively, and she recalled that compliance with data protection regulations is not a choice, whether the data they are collected directly from the patients themselves as if obtained from third parties.
In addition, Borràs has stressed that the APDCAT is working on the launch of a network that will bring together data protection officers in Catalonia, with the aim of promoting exchange and learning, to offer them tools to consolidate their knowledge, and preemptively guarantee data protection rights.
During the event, Meritxell Borràs presented the CODI TIPUS Awards, organized by the Catalan Union of Hospitals for the first time, with the aim of publicizing initiatives, experiences and good practices that reflect the effort, commitment and innovation of social and health organizations in the field of data protection. Above all, to highlight those actions of the affiliated entities, led by their data protection officers, which especially promote the culture of data protection in the environment of their organization, both internally and externally.
The director of the Catalan Data Protection Authority, Meritxell Borràs, highlights the role of data protection delegates in the defense of this fundamental right in the healthcare field, in the context of the delivery of the CODI TIPUS awards, organized by the Catalan Union of Hospitals.