With the enactment of the Data Protection Act 2020 impending, Scotia Group Jamaica Limted president and CEO David Noel asserted that the company has already taken steps to ramp up its cybersecurity efforts. This as Scotia looks to become more compliant with new data privacy protection and security regulations.

“We’re ready for the Data Protection Act as cybersecurity generally is an area that we continue to invest in. The good thing about being a global organisation is that there are other jurisdictions, including our parent company’s, where there are similar data privacy laws, so we began a programme a few years ago to increase our capabilities in managing these laws,” Noel told a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum held at he newspaper’s head office in Kingston.

He further indicated that the company spent millions in strengthening its cybersecurity system and in training employees.

“We have created a role called the chief privacy officer, who is responsible for privacy, attached to our Compliance Department who helps go through our data privacy requirements. There are a number of attacks that happen daily that our cybersecurity system is able to detect and stop and so the key thing is ensuring that we continue to invest in cybersecurity so we can protect our customers’ information. We’re also committed to raising our investments in customer education and around phishing, because unfortunately with COVID-19, we have seen an increase in attempts in trying to access customers’ information,” Noel stated.

According to the CEO, Scotiabank’s mobile app which can be accessed by facial or fingerprint recognition, alerts the customer of any activity on their accounts.

“If there is ever a transaction on your account that you did not do, that alert will trigger that there is something wrong. That mobile banking app also has the ability to turn on and off your credit card right on your phone. If you can’t find your card for some reason or you suspect that it has been compromised, you can just go into the app and slide the button [to turn] off that card and access to it, without going in-branch or even speaking to a representative over the phone,” he informed.

The Data Protection Bill, piloted by Science, Energy and Technology Minister Fayval Williams, was passed in the Senate on June 12. It seeks to safeguard the privacy and personal information of Jamaicans and provides guidelines on how personal data should be collected, processed, stored, used and disclosed in physical or electronic form.

As outlined in Clause 76 of the Bill, a transition period will be established to allow data controllers time to take the steps necessary to ensure full compliance with the legislation. The period will also facilitate other administrative processes.