It’s not surprising that these conflicts arise: after all, both are new fields, and just like on the school playground, territories need to be marked out. At first glance, it might seem that the territory of data encroaches on the territory of privacy.
Seems. Because as both fields mature, upon closer examination, it’s not really the case. In fact, both professional groups share the same core values. Both are heavily reliant on the quality of data in three ways: accuracy, timeliness and completeness. Granted, the privacy pro mainly focuses on personal data, while the data pro looks at all data, but the core values are the same.
With clients, we’re increasingly working on projects that intersect data and privacy. Gradually, privacy and data teams are beginning to understand, appreciate and collaborate better.
Of course, from a data perspective, there’s sometimes a need to experiment, which may push the boundaries of privacy legislation. From a privacy standpoint, it’s crucial to have a solid legal foundation and to be transparent. Something that doesn’t immediately come to mind when you’re seeking correlations as a data scientist.
However, it’s the accuracy, timeliness and completeness of the data that unite these fields. So, at the very least, the discussions revolve around getting the right data.
