Behind the Firewall: Emma Martins

Why did you choose data protection as a career?

I fell into it. I always knew that I wanted to work for the public sector, so one of the jobs when I was very young in service was working for the police in an admin role. And I think almost last, if not last in the job description, was data protection officer. 

My life has been filled with epiphany moments, just moments where the scales have fallen from my eyes and I thought; “ah, I get it.” 

One of those moments was when I was working at the police and I was stood in front of lots of lever arch files  of people that have been through the justice system or going through the justice system. Victims, witnesses, offenders, suspect offenders.  

So I stood there doing a bit of filing as you do in the glamorous role of admin support, and it suddenly struck me that: What if I filed this wrong? What if I lose a folder? What if I drop a folder in the street? 

That was a real turning point for me, and the beginning of my career.

‍Why is data protection important?

I do believe that it's as simple as saying: If you care about yourself and your loved ones and your family and your friends and your colleagues and the world at large, then you care about what happens to data.

 if it happens to our data, it essentially happens to us.

‍In the years to come; what will be your primary data protection focus?

I hope I can continue working in this space. I just find it so important and endlessly interesting. I love the people. I love the community. 

I think it's about doing what you do and doing it to the best of your ability, but knowing that you don't have all the answers.  So, I hope to continue learning. I'm a huge bookworm and there are just some fabulous authors. If I could be paid to read books for the rest of my career, I'd be very happy doing that.

‍What data protection issue interests you the most right now?

There's so much discussion around AI and of course that is endlessly interesting and challenging.  

But I also  think that sometimes we risk losing sight of the everyday,  more mundane tasks that we as Data Protection people make decisions about.

And again, in a small community, you can see how those decisions make an impact on people's lives.  Yes, try and understand the bigger picture but never lose sight, especially if you're a DPO, never ever lose sight of  the impact you have in those quiet everyday moments of doing your job well.  

I think there's a danger that we get a little bit bamboozled by some of the big stuff going on.

‍What are you most worried about when it comes to the future of data protection?

I think apathy and the feeling of disempowerment. I don't think we are disempowered, but if we say we're disempowered, then we'll become disempowered.

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