By Jane Larsson, CIS Executive Director

Since GDPR became law in the EU with its long-reaching global tentacles, our online world has been flooded with pop-up windows. At their top, a small checkbox followed by lengthy text (or a link to it). How many of us quickly check the box to get the window to go away as soon as possible? Often, I wonder, “Does anyone actually read the text that follows below?”

Every day in my job, I seek information online. And each time, before I can read the article I’m interested in or access the information I need, I now have to check a box to acknowledge that I know what I’m doing, the terms that accompany what I’m signing up for. (I do. I will. I accept. I agree. I have read.) But what are we actually signing up for? Have I read and do I understand and accept the depth of what I am agreeing to? What will be the implications of GDPR as legal rulings begin to be made globally, regulating access to private information? What is our responsibility as leaders to protect our colleagues and students and make sure we’re doing the right thing?

Sometimes it’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the face of change, especially when considering these complex, new regulations. How will we be impacted? We know we can’t be experts on everything, but it is my job, my responsibility, to find experts in areas of challenge to help us with the most challenging things we have to manage. If there’s one thing I’ve learned at CIS, it’s the importance of partnerships. Not just educational partnerships, but to form relationships across professions to gain the expertise we need. This is why we’re proud at CIS to work with our new colleagues and partners at 9ine because they have the information we need to know to help us and our entire membership community make better choices as we navigate the complicated world of data protection and cybersecurity.

Read more about our partnership with 9ine and how they are helping CIS and our members schools to improve in the area of data protection and cybersecurity.