Privacy sits at the intersection of law, technology, ethics, says privacy consultancy founder
HPX Group announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire privacy consultancy Salinger Privacy, which it will merge with its Helios business that provides end-to-end information security services.
HPX Group unites Helios; Hamilton Locke, corporate and commercial law firm; and Source, a legal, governance, compliance, and risk services platform. HPX Group, launched in 2018, has more than 450 employees across offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, and Auckland.
Following the combination, Helios and Salinger Privacy will provide a whole-of-business solution to help organisations navigate Australia's evolving privacy landscape.
Nick Humphrey, chief executive officer of HPX Group, stressed that organisations have to consider both legal and reputational risks when approaching their data privacy obligations.
“As we’ve seen from high-profile data breaches, the impact in terms of consumer churn and loss of trust in the brand when people’s personal information is placed at risk can be enormous,” Humphrey said in a media release. “It makes good business sense to view the protection of personal information not as a cost of doing business but as an investment in a valuable asset.”
Helios brings together legal, privacy, and information security professionals to advise on front-end privacy program design and implementation, legal and regulatory advice and compliance, and data breach and cyber incident response. Helios gives organisations access to a comprehensive suite of wrap-around information security and privacy support services.
Salinger Privacy, founded in 2004 by Anna Johnston, covers the areas of privacy consulting, training, and resources.
“With the latest wave of the Government’s privacy law reforms released earlier this month, organisations economy-wide will need to uplift the maturity of their data handling practices,” Johnston said in the media release.
Organisations have to adopt a co-ordinated and holistic approach to manage their privacy law compliance properly and to maintain the trust of their clients, given recent and impending legal reforms, increased regulatory scrutiny, and heightened consumer awareness, Johnston explained.
“Every enterprise needs to ensure they have right-sized privacy policies and frameworks, and appropriate training and compliance resources,” Johnston emphasised in the media release. “This is not only to meet evolving legal requirements, but also community expectations as to how personal information is collected, handled and protected.”
Poor data handling practices can render organisations vulnerable to large-scale data breaches and to costly privacy complaints, Johnston added.
“Privacy sits at the intersection of law, technology and ethics – and in the age of AI, that means privacy compliance is where the rubber really hits the road,” Johnston concluded. “No matter what sector they are in, businesses and brands can’t afford to rely on a ‘set and forget’ mentality.”
