A Bermuda Bar Council standing sub-committee is collaborating with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to promote co-operation on educational privacy initiatives, policy and guidance to benefit the Bermuda Bar.

The new alliance is facilitated by a memorandum of understanding as the Bermuda Bar Council’s Advancement of Privacy Law and Appropriate Regulation of the Legal Industry sub-committee and PrivCom recognise the universal benefits to such collaboration.

The Privacy Commissioner, Alexander White, said it is in the interests of both the legal community and lay Bermudians that the members of the Bermuda Bar can provide accurate and complete advice about the Personal Information Protection Act’s rights and obligations.

“In addition, members of the bar will themselves use personal information in the course of serving their clients,” Mr White said. “They must themselves understand the risks of harm that result from changing technologies, in order to meet their own compliance obligations as well as their bar-governed duties to their clients.

“In line with our office’s regulatory philosophy of community engagement and constructive oversight, we are delighted to work with the legal community through APLLI in a positive way to ensure the success of all parties.”

He said the legal industry was critical to the protection of privacy rights and the agreement was the start of a useful, enduring relationship.

APLLI and PrivCom will facilitate privacy awareness and education among Bermuda Bar members, and develop policy and guidance to the legal industry.

Bermuda Bar Council president George Jones commented: “This MOU will ultimately benefit, not solely the members of the Bermuda Bar Association, but also Bermuda as a jurisdiction, through its outcomes and by providing support for the enhanced understanding and developing of the relationship between PrivCom and APLLI.”

Gretchen Tucker, APLLI chairwoman, said: “The sub-committee was established in March 2019 when the Privacy Commissioner for Bermuda had yet to be appointed. During its foundational year, APLLI primarily focused on adopting internal protocols for good governance.

“Following the appointment of Privacy Commissioner Alexander White, we hosted our first continuing legal education event – ‘APLLI Interview with Mr Alexander McD White, Bermuda’s Privacy Commissioner addressing Privacy in the Legal Sector’ – on February 26, 2021.”

It was intended to provide members of the Bermuda Bar with an exclusive opportunity to learn about key privacy issues arising within the legal industry and also marked the first occasion that a CLE event had been held for Bar membership via a video hosting provider.

“APLLI received an overwhelming positive response from the legal community with a total registration of 80 Bar members,” she said. “Following the event, APLLI then received substantial feedback from the membership, much of which was follow up questions and queries about APLLI’s future initiatives with the Privacy Commissioner.”

Ms Tucker said entry into an MOU with PrivCom is the natural progression of APLLI’s education mandate.

“It is truly an exciting step to support the building of a formal and transparent collaboration process for the benefit of the Bermuda Bar Council and members of the Bermuda Bar for years to come,” she said.

“It further provides a more concrete structure for information sharing and confidentiality that can both protect and inform Bar membership while preserving the independence of APLLI, as a standing sub-committee of the Bermuda Bar Council and PrivCom, as the privacy regulator for our jurisdiction.”