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Interview
Data Protection Officer
Axel-Jörg Hohlfeld

After spending time abroad in South Africa and Spain, Axel-Jörg Hohlfeld completed his studies in Germany, Turkey and Scotland.

He graduated with a postgraduate law degree, “Master of Laws (LL.M.)” in Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law (IT Law and IP Law). Most recently, he worked in Hanover at one of the leading automotive suppliers in the area of research & development.

You have taken over the role of Data Protection Officer at WAGO. What are your duties?

To put it simply, I handle company-wide issues related to the protection of data of natural persons. For example, traditional responsibilities include ensuring and complying with relevant data protection regulations, such as those of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all other national and international regulations. Among other things, I am responsible for reviewing and helping to design data processing in business, regulations and, for example, IT systems with regard to risks in the processing of personal data. I find it particularly exciting to be internationally active in my position as a data protection officer and can work with colleagues from a wide variety of fields.

However, my duties also include training employees, advising them and being available as a point of contact – both for employees and for the relevant supervisory authorities and affected parties. That's why raising awareness of the issue of data protection plays a central role for me. We can only succeed together to protect both our employees and our customers from data privacy incidents like those that occurred last summer with Cambridge Analytics and Facebook. Because in the end, data protection is not about data, but about real people, like you and me.

Within an interdisciplinary team, our goal is to protect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of information from threats, avoiding economic damage and minimizing risks.

What challenges do you see for the future at WAGO?

First of all, I also see our greatest opportunities in our greatest challenges. This allows us to create uniform rules and procedures throughout the company and to use the one-stop shop procedure of the GDPR. This process allows all necessary bureaucratic steps to be carried out at a single location, to optimize our business models with a view to a networked world and to strengthen our customers’ trust in WAGO and our products.

But we can only make effective use of our opportunities if everyone works together.

For me, the first approach is the newly established “Data Protection and Information Security Office” or “DIS Office” for short. Within an interdisciplinary team, our goal is to protect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of information from threats, avoiding economic damage and minimizing risks. As a general rule, data protection must be lived by everyone. For example, this starts with the fact that everyone should consider whether their actions could possibly have an impact on data protection. Where do I store what data? Who has access to this data? But perhaps the most important question is: What actually constitutes personal data? These questions must be answered. A gut feeling often helps here. If you have a bad feeling about your action or feel uncertain, then your action will most likely have an impact on data protection and should be reviewed.

As I said before, awareness-raising about data protection plays a central role, and will continue to do so in the future. Therefore, I think that one of the greatest challenges will be to achieve widespread awareness of data protection, while at the same time alleviating the fear of the “specter” of data protection and the “bureaucratic monster” of the GDPR.

To what extent does the topic of data protection affect each of us?

Whether at WAGO, the local fire department, the sports club, your family doctor or at major trade shows and events. Since May 25, 2018 at the latest, everyone has inevitably had something to do with data protection and the GDPR.

Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat and the like – data is generated everywhere that allows end users to be identified and thus personally identifiable. As I said at the beginning, data protection is not about data, but about the people behind the data.

It is also always a good idea to fundamentally reconsider or limit the disclosure of personal information on social networks. Therefore, also pay attention to the general terms and conditions and data protection provisions of the respective social networks. For example, I would recommend choosing a secure password for all online accounts and only doing online banking on the home network, for example.

Basically, don't get rattled and trust your gut. If you have any questions or doubts, you can always contact Data Protection at WAGO at datenschutz@wago.com.

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