80/20 announces changes in company focus
80/20 Thinking Ltd has today announced a number of significant changes to its mandate and direction. The new changes will involve discontinuing privacy advisory work and focusing on technology development.
During the fifteen months since its inception, the company has worked with some of the world’s leading communications and IT companies on a range of activities from the creation of Privacy Impact Assessments and privacy policy reviews to staff training and development. It has brought together companies, regulators and legal experts from across the world on projects such as the Working Group on Consent, which has pioneered a collaborative approach to understanding the complex issue of notice and consent for the use of personal information.
80/20 Thinking also has a mandate to significantly support advocacy efforts worldwide, and has for example funded the assessment of refugee centre registration systems for the United Nations.
However the formation of 80/20 Thinking has not been without challenges. Two of the company’s founders and directors, Simon Davies and Gus Hosein, also hold senior positions with the global advocacy NGO Privacy International. In this role they have a responsibility to campaign against privacy invasion without fear or favour. Such has been Privacy International’s mandate for more than twenty years.
While this dual involvement has greatly helped client companies that seek to do the right thing by privacy, 80/20 Thinking has concluded that there is a long-term risk of a perception of conflict of interest with the independent role of Privacy International as a campaigner and watchdog. The conflict of interest issue has already been raised by a number of observers. We respect their view on this matter, and have thought deeply to find a way to resolve this problem.
As Privacy International will be accelerating its work on the privacy risks arising from new uses of personal information by commercial organisations, 80/20 Thinking has therefore decided that from August 2009 all privacy advisory work with companies and government departments will cease. Existing client relationships will be completed in the four-month time frame until then.
We have sought to bring the best possible advice to such companies as eBay, AOL and Phorm, and it is with great sadness that we must take the decision to cease working with these and all other organisations in an advisory capacity.
We stand by these and other clients, and we applaud the positive approach they have taken to privacy. We have learned during our time in the commercial realm that it is only these few leaders that have chosen to taken privacy seriously, while countless other companies continue to ignore the issue. Meanwhile, governments worldwide continue to circumvent privacy protections in increasingly innovative and aggressive ways. Our initial hope that we could influence the “bad” players was optimistic at best, and was possibly delusional. It is clear that there is a need, now more than ever before, to ensure that Privacy International can continue its role without these players being given any opportunity to claim a conflict of interest.
80/20 Thinking will however continue operations, but in a non-advisory capacity. Future work will focus on developing and promoting privacy technologies. We will also continue to work on an ad-hoc basis with existing client companies in staff training, should those companies choose to engage us for that purpose.
Although as part of our strategic review we will be winding up advisory relationships such as the one’s we have with ICOMP, Phorm, and the Working Group on Consent, we believe that we will be in a better position than ever to help inform the privacy debate. We believe that our voice should always lend itself to achieving real privacy as opposed to the illusion of privacy or even, in some cases, other more commercial agendas.
80/20 Thinking’s Managing Director Simon Davies said: “We are disappointed that after so much positive interaction with companies we have found the need to take this decision, but we are excited about our new direction, and particularly the focus on developing privacy technologies.”
“The work we have undertaken has helped inform companies about important privacy principles and has provided an insight into how they can improve their privacy standards.”
“We have been pleasantly surprised at the extent to which many large organisations in the commercial realm have embraced our work and have listened to constructive advice. We can only hope that they continue down this path.”
“At a time when privacy rights are imperilled, 80/20 Thinking is a powerful idea which has the potential to bring remarkable benefit to information users and to consumers. While our consulting work has come to an end we will continue to work alongside the leading technology experts in the world to find solutions to the privacy challenges ahead”
UPDATE: 20th August 2009 Following extensive discussions over recent months both within 80/20 Thinking and amongst a wide range of stakeholders, the company has decided that it will continue to conduct Privacy Impact Assessment work, particularly with public sector organisations. The decision taken earlier this year to discontinue advisory work remains in place, but the company believes that conducting PIA work using guidance provided by the Information Commissioner is both timely and appropriate. Such work will not only provide funding for the ethical commitment of the company but will also provide crucial input to improve the privacy standard of significant IT projects.
ends