Natasha Levy: 0:07

Welcome to we Can Solve this, a podcast where we break down issues and provide solutions based on research and best practices. We hope that the ideas shared here help to build thriving communities wherever you are. Our guest today is Trevor Forrest, and Trevor is an IT practitioner with over three decades of experience, particularly recognized for his experience in cybersecurity, digital transformation and artificial intelligence. His career has been marked by a steadfast dedication to elevating ICT standards within both the private and public sectors, where he has been instrumental in designing and evaluating a multitude of ICT projects and digital transformation strategies. As the founder of 876 Technology Solutions since 2006, mr Forrest has been at the forefront of advocating for open source technology in the Caribbean. His company is committed to aiding organizations in their digital transformation journeys, offering services that range from strategic planning to the implementation of cutting edge technologies like blockchain, big data analytics and cloud based solutions. Trevor, it's an absolute joy to be sitting and having this conversation with you. Welcome to we Can Solve this. How are you doing today?

Trevor Forrest: 1:33

I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be here.

Natasha Levy: 1:38

Awesome. So we're going to have an easy conversation about a big topic, and what I'd love for us to do in this conversation is to really break down and simplify the Data Protection Act. Okay, and I really would like us to look at a few things. Trevor, what is this thing called the Data Protection Act and who does it apply to, you know? Does it apply only to big companies, you know, or to the little man on the street? So why don't we start off the conversation with what is the Data Protection Act?

Trevor Forrest: 2:18

Okay. So to explain the Data Protection Act, because you know, when you talk about legislation and laws, it's not something that a lot of people gravitate to. It's not sexy discussion act as a bone, and why it's important is to look at it from the standpoint of where we are now, how we function, especially how we function in this digital age that we're in. So one of the things that has happened to us over the past 20 to 30 years is we've seen an increased use and creation of data right in electronic form.

Natasha Levy: 3:13

Trevor. What do you mean by data?

Trevor Forrest: 3:15

Ah, very good question. So any information and I'm going to use a word that I know you have a problem with, right, Right, but any information that is in digital form or non-digital form that we look at, we read, we store, we save, Anything of that kind of nature that has information in it that is stored, collected, saved, deleted or whatever, that's really what data is Got you, Okay? So everybody comes into contact with some form of data, right? So if it is that you're using your mobile phone, the numbers that you have in your mobile phone represent data.

Trevor Forrest: 4:08

If you go to an office and you take a paper out of a filing cabinet, what's on that paper can be viewed as data, right? If you go to, let's say, your hairdresser and she says listen, you know, I kind of want to run my business efficiently, so to do that I need to make sure I make appointments so that when you get here you don't have to wait, and so on. So here's what I want you to do Give me your name, your number and your email address so that I can contact you and let you know when's the best time to come, what she's collecting is data Right.

Trevor Forrest: 4:51

So everybody comes into contact with data at some point in time or another. It goes from the most sophisticated individual technically to the simplest of individuals. So if you think about, let's say, your mechanic, when he's fixing your car, he has to know how to replace a particular part and that part is maybe in your car, maybe your tires, your wheels and so on. Well, they need to know what size tires to use, they need to know what size bolts and that kind of stuff. So all of that is stored in some book somewhere. Now, the mechanic may not have the book sitting beside him, but that information that gives him the knowledge to perform that particular task is stored in a book, whether it's digital or paper, and all of that is viewed as data.

Natasha Levy: 5:55

So what you're saying is that you know we have access to more data slash information now than we did, say, 40 years ago.

Trevor Forrest: 6:04

Absolutely Okay. Because what? And the figures are staggering? Because the amount of data that we create in a single year in, let's say, 2024, is more than the amount of data that was created, like, in an entire decade back in the 30s. So in one year, we create more data than an entire decade back in what you look at as a non-digital age, right? And what that does now is it causes data to have a whole lot of value. Huh, right? And you might ask well, how does data have value?

Trevor Forrest: 6:53

Well, a lot of us and let's talk in terms that many people understand a lot of us spend a lot of time online, whether it is we're shopping at Amazon or we're on social media. You know Instagram, facebook, tiktok, whichever one you're using. So, in functioning in those spaces, whether we know it or not, we're providing a lot of information. So, let's say you go on Amazon and you want to buy something. In order for you to get it, you have to search for it. When you find it, you make a decision as okay, I want to buy this. Now. When you buy it, you have to tell them where to send it.

Natasha Levy: 7:41

Yeah, you have to give them your personal information.

Trevor Forrest: 7:43

Name, address and all of that. All that information is collected, and when it's collected, it is then used to provide a service. Right, so you go to Amazon, you see what you want, you say I want to buy this. You give them your information and they magically it shows up at your doorstep. Many things and many people touch that product between where you order it online and when it gets to your doorstep, and all those different entities have access to various bits of your information. Okay, right, when you go on social media, same thing To use Facebook you have to give Facebook some information so you can access it and Facebook uses that information to then create an experience for you. Same thing with any social media platform. But let's take it even in a more simplistic way. When you go to do business with, let's say, the government Right, you know you go to the registrar, you go to the tax office.

Trevor Forrest: 8:54

You go to any one of those government entities In order to get service from them. What do you do? You give them information. You give them information and that information is stored somewhere. Right Now, the thing that is important to understand is that information has a tremendous amount of value.

Natasha Levy: 9:15

Why does it have value?

Trevor Forrest: 9:16

Okay. So that information, when you give it to them, allows them to know you. Give it to them, allows them to know you. It allows them to say, well, this person came here, they asked for this information and, based on the information they gave us, we can then provide them with what they're asking for. That information also allows different types of service providers to become very efficient in the way they provide that information and that service. So, if it is that I asked you your name, your email address, your phone number, but then what kind of food do you like? Or what kind of beverage do you like, the next time you come to me and you say, hey, my name is Natasha Levy, then I can say, oh hi, great to have you. Do you want to have your favorite glass of red wine? And you're like, sure, and you don't even have to tell them what the wine is because you told them already. So they just bring it to you and you're like, wow, how did they know that? Yeah, well, you told them and they kept that information.

Trevor Forrest: 10:29

When you go online and this is what some people tend to find scary sometimes is when you go online and you are shopping you may notice that, all of a sudden, things that are of interest to you start popping up. Yes, and that's what you're shown and you're like well, how did they do that? Well, you, unknowingly, are giving them information about what you like when you're searching. So what they do is they say, ah, natasha is logged in. The last time she was here, she was looking for these things, so let's show her stuff like this. And all of that is based on data that is collected, based on what you're doing.

Natasha Levy: 11:13

So bring it home for me. So you've set the scene. You've said listen, there's a lot more data now than there was decades ago. And you've said not only is there more data, but this data is important. How does that tie back to this Data Protection Act?

Trevor Forrest: 11:30

Because not only can you do great things when you collect that data, but you can do not so great things with it as well.

Natasha Levy: 11:40

Right.

Trevor Forrest: 11:41

So consider, I go to a service provider, let's say Amazon. I give Amazon my name, my address and, because I want to check out and buy things quickly, I give them my credit card. Well, if somebody who is what we would call a bad actor or a hacker stole that information from Amazon, then suddenly they have your information and your card number and my card number.

Trevor Forrest: 12:21

You know what that does. That allows them to go to other places and literally become you, because when you sit in front of a computer, amazon doesn't know that, physically, natasha is sitting in front of that computer. What they depend on is the information that you provide. If that information is legitimate as far as they're concerned, then this must be Natasha.

Natasha Levy: 12:48

Fair enough.

Trevor Forrest: 12:48

And as such we will validate and say yes, whatever Natasha wants, we will give it to her. But think about this If they can't see you, then anybody with your information can become you. So if I steal your information, then I can go somewhere else, use that information and become you, conduct business as if I am you and use your money as if I'm you right. So because of that, that information is now a target for people who want to do bad things. Here's another scenario If I'm a company that collects information about you I know your name, I know where you live, I know what you like Then suddenly, if I'm another business that wants to figure out how best to market products to you, then that information about what you like and where you are, is valuable because now I don't have to do a survey to find out.

Trevor Forrest: 13:56

Now that information is readily available, I just need to find out where it is and purchase it. To find out where it is and purchase it right. And as the need for that goes up, so does the value. So what has happened now is data has become increasingly valuable. In fact, in certain quarters, data is viewed almost as a currency. It's almost viewed like oil, right, and what has happened is a very interesting thing.

Natasha Levy: 14:35

People, you and I have become a product, because our information is suddenly valuable. I don't think I fully appreciated all of this before, because I go about my life just on a normal basis. So, yes, so I go to my doctor's office, I give them information, I go to the hairdresser. Back to your analogy.

Trevor Forrest: 14:50

Absolutely yeah.

Natasha Levy: 14:51

I shop online.

Trevor Forrest: 14:53

But you never consider what can be done with the information you freely give away.

Natasha Levy: 14:59

Well, I think it's two parts. I think you know it makes my life convenient to just go about my life the way I do. But then also there's, I think, a little bit of a distance, because you do hear about hackers or people who are doing bad things, but it doesn't. It's certainly you.

Trevor Forrest: 15:16

All this data is out there and we are on this push to go. Digital and digital information is extremely accessible. It's very portable of information on our person, something which 30, 40 years ago would be unheard of. So how do we ensure that, when we give our data to different companies or service providers, how do we now ensure that, in light of how valuable, how accessible and how portable this information is, how do we now make sure that who we give it to secures it, keeps it in a manner that we're comfortable with, but also keeps it in a way that makes it safe for us?

Natasha Levy: 16:22

I think I know the answer to this Trevor. This is where you're going to say, this is where the Data Protection Act comes in.

Trevor Forrest: 16:28

Yes, because what the data protection law does for the first time in, I would say, our history is it puts control of your data and my data right. It puts the control of that data in our hands. We can now determine, through the law and what the law provides us, we can say, look, I don't want you to have my information. Or, if I give you that information, you need to tell me what you're doing with it. You need to tell me how you're storing it, how you're keeping it safe. In fact, if I don't feel that you need a certain piece of information that you're asking me for to provide a service to me, I'm not going to give it to you to provide a service to me. I'm not going to give it to you, right? So you may go to certain places, right, and they say, look, we need your name, okay fine, we need your phone number, okay fine, we need your data, bird. Why?

Natasha Levy: 17:34

Are you being hypothetical?

Trevor Forrest: 17:36

No, no, no no, this is what is contemplated in the law. So right now and I'm going to show you some very practical situations, because I know a lot of people have certain things happen to them and they're like, boy, why do I keep doing this? What can I do to stop them? So you may go to a store, like a retail store, you're buying clothes, and they say give me a name, give me a phone number, and you're like, okay, cool, all right, give me a data bird. Why do you need that? Well, you know it's on the paper.

Trevor Forrest: 18:08

Yeah, but my date of birth I have nothing to do with buying the clothes these pair of jeans are right, exactly right, and you can actually say yeah, no, I'm not giving you that information and they can't force you to do it.

Natasha Levy: 18:21

Right, because in your In law like no seriously. I could say no, thank you, I don't need to give you my birth date.

Trevor Forrest: 18:26

Absolutely, because, in your estimation, because that information that you're giving to them is yours, right. So let me even make this even clearer have you ever been to a doctor's office and say, listen, I want all of my records.

Natasha Levy: 18:43

Yes.

Trevor Forrest: 18:43

And some of them look at you and say yeah, yeah, we don't really give that out, you know.

Natasha Levy: 18:47

Yes.

Trevor Forrest: 18:49

But why not? It's mine? Yeah, yeah, no, we have it, so it's our information, not anymore. Your medical records are yours, the law says so, and you can now go to a doctor's office and say, listen, I would like my data. In fact, I would like to see everything that you have on me, and I'd like you to provide it to me in an intelligible format.

Natasha Levy: 19:17

So stick up in Trevor, let's just take we're going to take two steps back and come back right here. Absolutely, we Can Solve. This is brought to you by Solution Space Consulting. Have a podcast idea, need editorial support for books or other publications? Solution Space will produce your podcasts and take care of your publications. Visit solutionspacecocom so that we can create wonderful work together.

Trevor Forrest: 19:45

The Data Protection Act is in force in Jamaica right now. Yes, so the Data Protection Act. It was tabled in 2017. It was brought. Well, the big word for it is it was promulgated in 2020. There was a two-year grace period for it to go into effect and it came into effect December 1 of 2023.

Natasha Levy: 20:10

So right now, if I walked into my doctor's office, I could do what you just suggested. Yeah, yeah.

Trevor Forrest: 20:15

They are required by law to provide you, because now the power is in our hands, because the information they have is mine, it's yours, so you are entitled to get it, and that's the kind of thing that the Data Protection Act provides, right?

Trevor Forrest: 20:37

So if it is that and here's another scenario that a lot of people are very familiar with Sometimes you're sitting at home and you get a message on your phone, maybe from a course or a digital or a singer or Max's Furniture or whatever, and you're like how did these people get my information? I've never shopped there, I've never done business there, but, be that as it may, I don't want them to send me text messages. I don't want them to send me text messages. I don't want them to call me, right. I don't want them to send me mail in my mailbox, right? What the Data Protection Act does now for you is gives you the power to tell them listen, you sent me a text message, or you called my phone, or you sent me some mail. I don't want you to do that anymore. Please remove me from your marketing database.

Natasha Levy: 21:35

Trevor, it feels that there are two sets of people in this conversation. So when we talk about the Data Protection Act, you're telling me about the things that I can do as the consumer, as the person out there.

Trevor Forrest: 21:49

The fancy name for us in the law is data subject.

Natasha Levy: 21:55

So I'm a data subject.

Trevor Forrest: 21:57

All of us are.

Natasha Levy: 21:57

We're all data subjects, all right. So that's one piece of person.

Trevor Forrest: 22:01

Or entity or being.

Natasha Levy: 22:03

In this equation entity or being, or in this equation and you know we kind of almost can look at well, what are my rights right and and what are the other right?

Trevor Forrest: 22:13

people's rights, the other part of that equation is what you call the data controller, and that's who we give the information to I see so in this thing I'm a data subjects right, you have the data subject and you have the data controllers.

Natasha Levy: 22:27

Right, all right.

Trevor Forrest: 22:28

These are the fancy terms.

Natasha Levy: 22:29

Fancy terms.

Trevor Forrest: 22:30

So data subjects are you and me, citizens, people, right? Right, whose data is given to a data controller? And a data controller is a business, it is a government entity, a public authority, it is a company, right, it could be your mechanic or hairdresser, all the way up to a multinational, multimillion-dollar traded company.

Natasha Levy: 23:02

All right, so stick a pin. Lots of pins to be stuck all over the place, sure, but I really want to make sure that we're breaking this down and that everybody has an opportunity to really look and understand what's going on here. I'm not clear that we really understand who the Data Protection Act applies to.

Natasha Levy: 23:28

So I think that would be a first step. You've done a great job in explaining the importance of data and why we now need to protect it in this day and age, but it's something that's a legislation right? It's clearly for these big companies, right, Trevor? I mean, when you talk about, you know, is these these data controllers? I mean you must be talking about the banks and the fact and the and the insurance companies are. Are people, like you know, are creatives, data controllers, are bloggers' data controllers. Suppose I have a little skincare product and I sell my shea butter on IG and people place their orders and then I have a bearer that delivers it. I can't be a data controller.

Trevor Forrest: 24:19

Absolutely, you are.

Natasha Levy: 24:20

How am I a data controller?

Trevor Forrest: 24:22

Because you collect the data of data subjects. Now, here's the thing the way you've outlined all these different types of people is based on size.

Natasha Levy: 24:35

It's based on size.

Trevor Forrest: 24:36

Yes, you say well, I can't be a big organization, I'm a little one. This law must only apply to the big guys, right? Well, here's the thing with that. The amount of data or information that you have has nothing to do with the size of your business, and here's why. You could be a hairdresser with 100 clients Well, that's a hundred people that you have information on. You could be a small, you know, five-person operation with thousands of clients. How do you get those thousands of clients? Because one of your clients is a bank and the bank shares that their information with you. Now, the bank has thousands of clients and because you are providing a service to the bank, they might share that information. So now, little little, you with your five employees, has information about 100,000 people.

Trevor Forrest: 25:52

The size of your business is not an indication of how much data you have on data subjects. So what the law is trying to do is to ensure that whoever has your information, regardless of their size, treats with it in an appropriate manner. Are I haven't invested in all the different things that I need to protect the information that I have about you, right? What do I mean by that? Well, a bank invests millions of dollars in, you know security and security software and all that kind of stuff. Right, they have the budget for that. Smaller companies may not have that kind of budget or they don't make it a priority, but at the same time, they have access to the very valuable and sensitive information about you that a bank does.

Natasha Levy: 27:09

So Trevor is a reasonable expectation that if I have a clothing store and I've collected my customers' name, email addresses and telephone numbers because I want to send them information about my promotions, the expectation is that I must have the same sort of security protocols in place like a bank.

Trevor Forrest: 27:29

So that's an excellent question, right? Because right off the bat that just cannot seem equitable or fair right.

Trevor Forrest: 27:37

So, over time, the expectation is that companies, regardless of their size, will eventually get to the point where they have all the measures in place to protect that information associated with are being put out. Is that? Look, we understand and this is from the government we understand that, look, you know, the hairdresser or the mechanic or the micro business individual cannot be expected to make the kind of investment and do the kind of things at the drop of a dime that a bank can do, that an insurance company can do, that a large entity that has a whole lot of information can do. So what has happened is the government has chosen to phase in different aspects of this law.

Natasha Levy: 28:48

Okay.

Trevor Forrest: 28:49

Right. So you would have heard me say that the law came into effect on December 1. 2023. 2023. Right, there was a grace period that was implemented on December 1. Implemented on December 1. It says we're going to give everybody six months to prepare, even after the two-year period to prepare to become a registered data controller. Right.

Natasha Levy: 29:18

You know I'm going to ask you about that, but go on.

Trevor Forrest: 29:21

So we're going to give you six months and that six-month time period I've taken it to June 1 of this month this year. So you get a six-month period. Because they're saying, look, when this thing came into effect, people didn't understand. Businesses didn't understand exactly how this worked, worked. So we need to give them some time to some more public education and awareness so that they can understand what's happening here and make the necessary preparations. Now, come June 1, you're going to need to register. But even at June 1, a lot of businesses still didn't quite understand and between during that grace period, that became very obvious. So what did the government do? They said, listen, we're only going to initially target certain types of entities and organizations.

Natasha Levy: 30:22

Okay.

Trevor Forrest: 30:23

Right. What are these kinds of organizations? Well, all public bodies. So all the government has to register as a data controller. So who are they registering with states that there has to be this body that's responsible for managing this whole regime, and that body is called the, and again, the fancy word for that is that's the regulator for the data protection law Understood.

Natasha Levy: 31:26

So the office of the information commissioner, staffed with an information commissioner, a very powerful post is who data controllers must register with. And, again, the data controllers are the entities that have information on us.

Trevor Forrest: 31:32

The data subjects absolutely.

Natasha Levy: 31:33

I understand, and so you're saying that between June 1 and June 31st?

Trevor Forrest: 31:41

August 31st.

Natasha Levy: 31:42

Sorry. June 1 and August 31st there are a group of.

Trevor Forrest: 31:47

Industries.

Natasha Levy: 31:48

Industries, entities that must register with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Trevor Forrest: 31:54

That's correct.

Natasha Levy: 31:55

Okay, that's correct and thereafter, I guess, information will be shared in terms of who next must register under various categories. That's correct register under various categories. So is there talk to me now about what happens if I don't register, or what happens if I register and something happens and I'm not treating the information on my data subjects securely?

Trevor Forrest: 32:21

Excellent question. So because the law says that if you are a data controller you must register, the law prescribes some penalties, and these penalties are harsh, very harsh, harsh. Harsh, but it is structured in such a way that a certain level of discretion can be used with the application of this law. The largest penalty that exists in this thing is you could be fined 4% of your yearly revenue. 4%. Now people say 4% telecom? No, no, no. 4% to some businesses can literally shut them down.

Natasha Levy: 33:34

It can literally shut them down and this applies and just to be very clear, Trevor, this 4% applies to these telcos, but it would also apply to my dentist, as well Any data controller. My little micro enterprise.

Trevor Forrest: 33:52

Shea Butter store yeah, absolutely 4% across the board. Of your yearly revenue. Yearly revenue. If you're an international company, it's 4% of your global revenue. Okay, so it's important to understand that. But also, directors of entities can also be fined.

Natasha Levy: 34:20

Directors.

Trevor Forrest: 34:21

Yes, yes. So if you are the member of, say, on a board for a particular organization, that is company is found in breach of the law.

Natasha Levy: 35:02

I realize that.

Trevor Forrest: 35:03

Right. So this legislation does posit that if you're a director on a company that's found to be in breach, you too can be fined, and you too can go to jail.

Natasha Levy: 35:21

Trevor, it seems like it's a lot of information to digest.

Trevor Forrest: 35:23

It is. It is Quite a bit.

Natasha Levy: 35:26

How would I go about, or can you suggest some ways in which we can go about finding? Out more information. I mean this conversation that we're having I'm sure is going to help, but it's a whole act to try and understand. I'm sure it's not two pages of information.

Trevor Forrest: 35:46

Yeah, man, we would want to know where the cliff notes are.

Trevor Forrest: 35:50

Yes, so the Office of the Information Commissioner has a website and the website has information in some easily digestible forms for you to go and find out what you know, what you need to know, what you need to do and how you need to do it. Now the website for the Office of the Information Commissioner is oicgovjm, and you go there. Any information that you want, any information that you want, you can find it there. If you're a business and you kind of would like somebody to come much like how I'm speaking to you here to do a presentation about this thing called the Data Protection Act, you can go on that website and request that they come and do a presentation to you and they'll come and they'll tell you everything you need to know about what you should do, what you shouldn't do, about the data protection legislation. So it's very important from the standpoint of a data controller that you understand what is required of you when you're collecting my data.

Natasha Levy: 37:11

And again, the litmus test is once I collect information about people and I'm oversimplifying it.

Trevor Forrest: 37:20

No, no, you're perfectly accurate.

Natasha Levy: 37:22

Once I collect information about people.

Trevor Forrest: 37:24

You're a data controller.

Natasha Levy: 37:25

I am a data controller, correct, and it's a big title data controller, and what you're saying is that it's not only the banks and the big companies are data controllers. Once I collect information about people, I too am a data controller.

Trevor Forrest: 37:41

Correct, correct and the legislation right and the way I like to. I like how they frame the legislation, because there's a part of the legislation that says listen, we know that nobody likes to read the legalese, so what they did was they have a part in legislation that speaks about what they call data processing standards, and there are eight of them and, as a data controller, if you study those eight standards, you're good to go, if you understand those eight standards. And these are one sentence standards.

Natasha Levy: 38:24

And Trevor, I'm going to ask this seemingly simple question. Those eight standards apply to me as a hairdresser as well as it applies to my bank as a.

Trevor Forrest: 38:34

Absolutely. So, all data controllers. So here's what I'm going to do for you. I am going to read the standards for you, if that's okay. No.

Natasha Levy: 38:47

The standards are available on the website. Yes, absolutely.

Trevor Forrest: 38:50

They're available on the website. Generally, what the standards are saying is that, look, when you collect information, you must only collect it for the service you're providing. You should only collect the amount of information that you need to provide that Whenever you don't need that information anymore, you must dispose of it. That's the kind of stuff that the standards say, and what happens is is, once you understand those standards and you practically live by them, you will be in compliance with the law all the time.

Natasha Levy: 39:25

Got you, got you. Poor Trevor, it really is a lot to digest.

Trevor Forrest: 39:29

Yes, it is.

Natasha Levy: 39:30

But what I heard you say is a good place to start is the Office of the Information Commission's website. And also to recognize the two parties in this equation, so data subjects and data controllers.

Trevor Forrest: 39:47

Right.

Natasha Levy: 39:48

And to come to terms with the fact that once I collect information on behalf of my from my customers, I'm a data controller. No matter how big or small my business is Right.

Trevor Forrest: 40:02

And something that and there's a lot of fear about. Well, what does that mean? If I'm a small entity collecting information, going to kick down your door and say, oh, you are in breach because you collected somebody's information and you kept it for too long, and so on? No, they're not going to do that. What they're committed to doing is to one acting in such a way that entities that collect information treat with it in accordance with the law, make sure that data they collect on you and me, they secure it, they keep it safe, they don't give it to people without my consent, because it's my data. If I ask for it, they should give it to me.

Trevor Forrest: 41:03

But more importantly and this is something that, again, it's very new Whenever any one of those data controllers suffers a data breach, they have to tell you Right. So what the law says is, within 72 hours of discovering that there has been a data breach, one, they must inform the Office of the Information Commissioner, but they must also tell the data subject whose information may have been stolen or compromised, what happened. Now, this is something that has never happened before, because I can tell you there have been situations where entities that have personal information or sensitive information about you and me. They have suffered breaches, but you've never heard of it.

Natasha Levy: 41:57

Never heard of it. No one says anything to you.

Trevor Forrest: 41:59

Now the law requires that they tell you when information has been breached. Now, what does that do? That forces them to put things in place to make sure that they protect your information, and your information is extremely valuable because there are some people out there who want access to that information so that they can take away your money right, so that they can go buy fancy car under your name and you don't know nothing about it. Those kinds of things are what the law is protecting against. So, as we move more and more into the digital age, there needs to be protections and guardrails for us, because we want the services.

Trevor Forrest: 42:51

We want them efficiently. We don't want to stand up in a line anymore. But to do that, we have to provide that information to somebody who is delivering that service. But in doing so, we want to make sure that who we're giving that information to, which is extremely valuable.

Natasha Levy: 43:07

We want to make sure that who we're giving that information to, which is extremely valuable, is keeping it safe. And, trevor, as we wrap up, I just want to make an observation here that the Data Protection Act that we're speaking of, as it relates to Jamaica, does not exist on its own, so it's not that Jamaica decided that we are. We must. You know we're the only ones who are going to be doing this. There has been a global recognition that data is important and it needs to be protected.

Trevor Forrest: 43:32

That's correct.

Natasha Levy: 43:33

And there are a few other countries out there that actually have their version of data protection.

Trevor Forrest: 43:38

More than a few, more than a few. About 75% of the countries in the world have similar types of legislation.

Natasha Levy: 43:45

So this act really allows Jamaica to have global standards in terms of treating with data treating with information. That's correct.

Trevor Forrest: 43:54

In fact it also extends beyond our borders, so places outside of Jamaica that have our information are now required to treat with it properly.

Natasha Levy: 44:09

So, trevor, as we wrap up, I think you did a fantastic job of just breaking it down into these bite-sized digestible nuggets. I hope so.

Trevor Forrest: 44:20

Because it's a complex topic and not a lot of people quite get it the first time around, but I hope it kind of shed some light on it in this discussion.

Natasha Levy: 44:35

What I'm hearing is that a first stop is to find out more information.

Trevor Forrest: 44:38

Yes.

Natasha Levy: 44:39

And also I kind of heard that it's not as scary as people think it is.

Trevor Forrest: 44:43

No it's not. It's not. It's really to protect us.

Natasha Levy: 44:47

It's really to protect us.

Trevor Forrest: 44:47

It's really to protect us. It's really for us and for the data controllers who think that you know, hey, this is going to ruin my business. No, it's not, that you do have enough leeway and there is enough discretion to allow you to get to the point where you can keep people's data safe without breaking the bank. Right, you have sufficient time to get there.

Natasha Levy: 45:11

And on that note, Trevor, I want to say thank you so much. Our guest this afternoon was Trevor Forrest, the CEO of 876 Solutions. Thank you so much for joining us today, Trevor.

Trevor Forrest: 45:24

I enjoyed being here.

Natasha Levy: 45:52

Thanks for listening to this podcast of we Can Solve this a Solution Space podcast. Follow us on socials at we Can Solve this podcast. Like, follow, subscribe. We Can Solve this sharing ideas to help build thriving communities wherever you are.