Community Champion
The new operating model for project teams: Balancing flexibility and standardization
June 25, 2025 | Live Webinar
I don’t know about your projects, but the role of data privacy and information governance has certainly expanded since I started managing projects.
Data privacy has become a critical concern for organisations globally, and you only have to look at high-profile cases in the media about ransomware attacks, data leaks and breaches to realise that we’re all only one potential hack away from a major problem. Is that on your risk register? It could be.
Projects use or create a lot of sensitive data, depending on what industry you are in. Even if you aren’t dealing with medical records, your project probably includes some confidential company information for you or your clients. Even operational data could be sensitive if a competitor got it.
Therefore, project management processes have to take into account data privacy standards. Meeting those are the basics. You have to maintain trust in your organisation and avoid exposing the business to significant legal and financial consequences. Non-compliance can result in fines and reputational damage, and there are plenty of cases in the UK, for example, where GDPR breaches have been heavily fined.
In this article, we will discuss the key data privacy regulations that impact project management, how to assess your project management tools for compliance, and steps you can take to ensure your team handles project data securely.
Data privacy regulations
I know that readers come from all around the world, and privacy laws differ, so I’m not going to try to list all the relevant global legislation. Suffice to say that in the UK where I am based, GDPR is a key regulation. Where you are will no doubt have similar regulations on how personal data is collected, processed, and stored.
The laws that I am aware of generally all have similar aims: to ensure data is collected for the right reasons, stored securely and disposed of appropriately, and that data subjects know what is being done with their personal information.
Key principles of data privacy
Projects should take into account how data privacy is going to affect the work of the project and deliverables. Generally (although I’m not a legal expert in your country’s regulations, so take advice from your information governance team), what you are looking for are the following.
Data minimisation
Collect only the data necessary for the project’s purpose. Don’t collect extra things because they would be nice to have or would help a future project. Work out what data is required for the purpose of this project, and that’s all you can have.
Purpose limitation
This principle says that you have to ensure that data is used only for the purpose for which it was collected. In other words, if your project is collecting data for the purpose of processing a customer order, you can’t then use it for something else.
Consent management
People need to know what they are consenting to and what you are going to do with their data. this is all about transparency. If your project is collecting data from people that you didn’t have before, obtain explicit consent for that. Mostly this will be covered off by any privacy notice you have on the site, or in your terms and conditions – so you must make sure your project links in with any existing consent management systems (or builds a new one if needed)
Data security
Not surprising – if you need to build measures to protect data from unauthorised access, breaches, and leaks, do that, or tap into what already exists. This goes for user access too, so make sure only the right people in your company have access to data.
Transparency and accountability
Keep clear records of data handling practices and be transparent with customers about how their data is used. You may find this is already covered in existing terms and conditions or privacy notices, but always take advice from your legal or information governance team, or data protection officer to make sure your project isn’t introducing anything that would diminish existing processes or require new ones.
Posted on: May 13, 2025 08:00 AM |
Permalink