Dentsu appoints its first global data protection officer

As the media industry prepares for GDPR – set to be one of the biggest disruptions to privacy regulation in two decades – Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the appointment of Mark Keddie to the newly created role of global data protection officer.

The General Data Protection Regulation, which will come into effect in May 2018, will completely change how brands, agencies and adtech businesses are allowed to use consumers’ personal data and track online behaviour, potentially causing havoc with the data-driven marketing techniques many businesses currently employ.

“Data is now the lifeblood of businesses in the digital economy and the ones that get data protection right will accelerate through the transition and win,” said John Murray, president, Amplifi Global.

“We believe the future of marketing will be personalised and addressable, requiring a holistic understanding of people’s behaviours and motivations. Our vision is for all planning and activation to ultimately be people-based and underpinned by anonymised real people data, so data protection and privacy by design is at the core of our business.

“Mark is an industry leader on data protection and we are thrilled to welcome him to Dentsu Aegis Network to help us set the pace for our industry on data protection.”

Keddie joins Dentsu Aegis Network from BT where he has been the chief privacy officer since 2012.

“A tougher regulatory environment is an opportunity for businesses to supercharge their relationships with consumers through data protection,” Keddie said.

“Tougher regulation will drive greater awareness amongst individuals of how their personal data is used and the rights they have for it to be protected. For brands to release real value from data, they must build greater trust with their customers by being responsible operators in the digital economy.”