Data Protection, Privacy and GDPR Compliance Training Workshop

• Explain the GDPR's scope, key provisions, data protection principles and relationship with other applicable data protection laws.
• Develop a practical organisational data protection compliance and continuous improvement plan, including controls for AI systems and automated processing.
• Assess personal data security controls, manage data breaches, evaluate third-party risks and understand international data transfer requirements.
• Handle data subject rights requests, conduct DPIAs, evaluate privacy risks and implement privacy by design and by default.
• Develop and maintain practical compliance documentation, including ROPA, privacy notices, consent records, retention schedules and processor agreements.
• Identify appropriate lawful bases for personal data processing and distinguish the responsibilities of controllers, joint controllers and processors.

Module 1: Introduction to Data Protection, Privacy and GDPR

• Module objective: Understand the purpose of data protection legislation and identify when the GDPR may apply.
• Module sections: Meaning of privacy and personal data protection, evolution of modern data protection law, overview of the General Data Protection Regulation, relationship between the GDPR and the former Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, material and te
• Module 2: GDPR Principles and Lawful Bases for Processing Module objective: Apply GDPR principles and identify a defensible lawful basis for different organisational activities. Module sections: Lawfulness, fairness and transparency, purpose limitation,
• Module 3: Data Controllers, Joint Controllers and Processors Module objective: Determine the responsibilities of organisations and third parties involved in processing personal data. Module sections: Definition and responsibilities of a data controller,
• Module 4: Data Subject Rights and DSAR Management Module objective: Establish a reliable process for handling individual requests and protecting data subject rights. Module sections: Right to be informed, right of access, right to rectification, right to
• Module 5: Privacy Notices, Consent and Transparent Data Collection Module objective: Design transparent data collection processes and appropriate privacy communications. Module sections: Privacy notice requirements, information to provide when collecting
• Module 6: Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) and Data Governance Module objective: Build a practical inventory of personal data processing activities and assign accountability. Module sections: Purpose and legal importance of ROPA, identifying busin
• Module 7: Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and Privacy Risk Management Module objective: Assess high-risk processing activities and document appropriate risk-reduction measures. Module sections: Purpose of a DPIA, screening for high-risk proces
• Module 8: Data Security, Confidentiality and Technical Safeguards Module objective: Translate privacy obligations into proportionate technical and organisational security controls. Module sections: Confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience,
• Module 9: Personal Data Breaches and Incident Response Module objective: Establish a structured response to suspected or confirmed personal data breaches. Module sections: Definition and examples of personal data breaches, accidental disclosure and unaut
• Module 10: Data Protection Officers, Governance and Accountability Module objective: Develop governance structures that assign responsibility for compliance and demonstrate accountability. Module sections: Role of the Data Protection Officer, circumstanc
• Module 11: Data Retention, Records Management and Secure Disposal Module objective: Implement defensible retention practices throughout the personal data lifecycle. Module sections: Data lifecycle management, identifying retention obligations, purpose-ba
• Module 12: International Data Transfers and Third-Party Risk Module objective: Assess cross-border data flows and establish appropriate safeguards for international processing. Module sections: Transfers outside the European Economic Area, identifying in
• Module 13: Privacy by Design, Digital Products and Emerging Technologies Module objective: Integrate data protection into systems, applications and business processes from the outset. Module sections: Privacy by design and by default, data minimisation i
• Module 14: Artificial Intelligence, Automated Decision-Making and Data Privacy Module objective: Evaluate privacy risks arising from AI systems and the use of personal data in automated processing. Module sections: Personal data in AI development and dep
• Module 15: GDPR Compliance Auditing and Implementation Planning Module objective: Conduct a structured compliance review and produce an actionable improvement roadmap. Module sections: Establishing an organisational privacy baseline, GDPR compliance gap

• Practical exercises and expected outputs The workshop should be highly practical, with participants applying the concepts to realistic business scenarios. Use fictional organisations and synthetic personal data throughout the exercises.
• Exercise 1: Personal data mapping and ROPA development. Participants examine the activities of a fictional organisation that collects employee records, customer contact details, supplier information and website user data, identify processing purposes and data categories, determine recipients and retention periods, document lawful bases, and complete a Records of Processing Activities template. Expected outputs: completed ROPA register, data inventory, processing-purpose map and list of compliance gaps.
• Exercise 2: GDPR lawful basis assessment. Participants analyse scenarios involving employee payroll, customer marketing, recruitment, CCTV, website analytics and customer support, compare consent, contractual necessity, legal obligation, legitimate interests and other lawful bases, identify any additional conditions for sensitive data, and justify their decisions. Expected outputs: lawful basis assessment matrix, legitimate interests assessment for a suitable scenario and documented processing decisions.
• Exercise 3: Data subject access request (DSAR). Participants receive a fictional request from a former employee seeking access to personal information held by HR, email systems and payroll, verify identity appropriately, identify relevant records, consider third-party information, establish response responsibilities and prepare a response. Expected outputs: DSAR intake form, request-tracking register, search checklist, response letter and escalation record.
• Exercise 4: Data Protection Impact Assessment. Participants assess a proposed facial recognition attendance system or AI-powered recruitment platform, describe the processing, identify risks to individuals, evaluate necessity and proportionality, assess existing safeguards and propose mitigation measures. Expected outputs: completed DPIA template, privacy risk register, mitigation plan and residual-risk assessment.
• Exercise 5: Personal data breach response simulation. Participants respond to a scenario in which an employee sends a spreadsheet containing personal information to an unauthorised recipient, determine the scope and likely consequences, document containment steps, assess notification obligations and prepare an incident report. Expected outputs: breach register entry, incident response checklist, risk assessment, draft notification decision and corrective-action plan.
• Exercise 6: Controller, processor and vendor assessment. Participants review a fictional contract between an organisation and a cloud-based HR service provider, distinguish the parties' roles, identify missing processor contract clauses, examine subprocessor arrangements and recommend safeguards. Expected outputs: controller-processor responsibility matrix, vendor due diligence checklist, contract gap analysis and remediation recommendations.
• Exercise 7: Privacy notice review. Participants examine an unclear website privacy notice and rewrite it to explain processing purposes, lawful bases, retention, recipients, individual rights and complaint channels in plain language. Expected outputs: revised privacy notice, transparency checklist and list of required website changes.
• Exercise 8: AI privacy risk assessment. Participants evaluate a proposed generative AI assistant that processes customer support conversations, examine personal data exposure, vendor retention settings, access permissions, lawful processing, human oversight and potential disclosure risks. Expected outputs: AI privacy risk assessment, acceptable-use rules, proposed safeguards and AI implementation recommendations.
• Exercise 9: International data transfer assessment. Participants examine a fictional organisation transferring employee information to an overseas cloud provider, map the data flow, identify the relevant transfer mechanism, assess contractual and security safeguards, and document unresolved risks. Expected outputs: data-flow diagram, transfer assessment checklist, vendor action plan and transfer register entry.
• Exercise 10: Organisational GDPR compliance audit. Participants assess a fictional organisation against a compliance checklist covering governance, lawful processing, data subject rights, security, retention, vendors and incident management, rank findings by priority and assign corrective actions. Expected outputs: GDPR gap analysis, compliance risk register, management summary and 90-day implementation roadmap.
• 8. Recommended software and tools Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Forms, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Power BI, Microsoft Purview, OneTrust, TrustArc, Jira, a document management system, a data mapping tool, a risk assessment register, a privacy impact assessment template, a secure incident reporting system.
• The course can be delivered with standard office software and templates. Specialist privacy management platforms are optional demonstrations rather than prerequisites.