Whether you’re attempting to meet your legal obligations to prevent unlawful discrimination, or trying to implement corporate policies on fairness and equal treatment, you’re highly likely to need some personal data in order to do that. And if people complain that they’ve been subject to discrimination, you’ll definitely have to look at information about gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality or other sensitive matters. This might feel like walking into a minefield.
But the UK GDPR includes provisions for all of this; that’s not to say you have a free hand, but there are straightforward ways to do good work in this area without unnecessarily accumulating masses of sensitive information or taking huge risks. And who better than a middle-aged, middle-class straight white man to tell you all about it?
I’m not here to lecture you or lay down a political agenda: EDI initiatives done proportionately and transparently are entirely lawful and legitimate, and I’m here to help you negotiate the right way to use personal data as part of one. The first question is always what you’re trying to achieve, so we’ll begin by thinking about the purpose you’re basing your work on and the outcome that you’re trying to achieve. We’ll look at the basics of establishing a lawful basis for using equality data including the different options for justifying the use of special categories data, and the difference between work that you might be required to do and measures that you’re choosing to adopt. We’ll look at the risks associated with EDI work, and how to handle objections if they come.
GDPR isn’t a barrier to equality, but it can be a risk if not considered early, so join me to think about how to get it right.