Dear Members of the Privacy and Data Security Section:

It is my privilege to serve as the chair of the Privacy and Data Security Section during the 2019-2020 bar year. Following our inaugural Section Council meeting on July 31, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to the Section and provide updates on the Section’s work and upcoming events.

First and foremost, after operating as an NCBA committee for the last two years, our group became a full-fledged NCBA Section at the beginning of July. That successful transition was thanks to the tireless efforts of an outstanding group of leaders who now serve as our Section’s officers, council members, and committee chairs and co-chairs. You can see who they are on the Leadership section of the Section’s page on the NCBA website. Please feel free to reach out to any of us if you have questions about the Section or an interest in getting more involved in our work.

I’m also excited to share that, thanks to the tremendous work of the CLE Committee, our first Section Annual Meeting and CLE will be held on Oct. 24 at the NCBA Bar Center in Cary. The program, entitled “This Year in Privacy: Recent Developments in the Ever-Evolving Privacy Landscape,” features a spectacular roster of presenters who will speak on topics that are both timely and practically relevant to all practitioners in the field. Not to mention that it will also satisfy the NC State Bar’s Technology Training requirement and include ethics credit. Mark your calendars, register to attend, and get the word out to your friends and colleagues who might be interested—this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

Speaking of events, several our committees are hard at work planning networking, social, and small group discussion events on topics of interest for Section members. Stay tuned and be on the lookout for invitations via email in the coming months.

As you may be aware from the NCBA’s recent announcements, it has a new dues structure that includes as part of the base price membership in one NCBA Section. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to renew your membership today and use the included Section membership to join the Privacy and Data Security Section, and to invite those who aren’t already members but who may have an interest to do the same.

Finally, I encourage all members to get involved in the work of the Section. You can volunteer for one of our many committees by visiting the Committee Sign-up Page on the Section webpage. I’d also encourage Section members to consider volunteering to write a post for the Section Blog. To do so you can contact the Communications Committee, led by Section Vice-Chair Erin Illman.

If you have questions, comments, or ideas for the Section, please do not hesitate to contact me—my phone line and door are always open.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer. I look forward to working with all of you this upcoming bar year.

Alex Pearce

NCBA Privacy and Data Section 2019-2020

August 6, 2019/by Security