The Loneliness of Being the Only Privacy Person
In many organisations, the responsibility for privacy rests with just one person. That single privacy person is expected to be the responder to breaches, the handler of privacy requests, the privacy by design specialist, the reviewer of vendor arrangements and the trainer of staff, all at once. It’s a role that sits at the heart of trust and compliance, but it is also one that can feel incredibly lonely.
When you are the only privacy person in an organisation, there is rarely anyone else who truly understands the challenges you are facing. There’s no colleague to test your reasoning with, no partner to bounce ideas off, and no peer to share the lessons you’ve learned. Even highly skilled and experienced professionals benefit from having others to talk through difficult scenarios or emerging risks with, and without that connection, it’s easy to feel like you’re working in isolation. Over time, that isolation can erode confidence and leave a privacy function more fragile than it should be.
The challenge becomes even sharper when that sole privacy person is unavailable as they took leave or got sick. Privacy doesn’t wait, privacy requests still arrive, projects still raise tricky questions, and incidents still happen. Without cover, the organisation risks missing statutory deadlines, overlooking a breach that should be reported, or allowing a new initiative to launch without the right checks. Privacy is an area where continuity matters, and gaps, even temporary ones, can quickly create exposure.
This is where ThreeBlackCats can make a real difference. We understand what it feels like to be the only privacy person in the room, carrying the weight of both compliance and trust without a safety net. That’s why we offer call-off blocks of hours: flexible support that organisations can draw on when they need it most. With our help, you can have experienced privacy professionals ready to step in to provide cover when your privacy person is away, act as a sounding board when you need to test your ideas, handle urgent issues so nothing gets missed, and bring specialist expertise when thorny questions arise. We’re an extra set of hands that you can count on to share the load.
Because privacy is not just about ticking compliance boxes, at its core, it’s about protecting people and building trust. To do that well, your privacy team needs more than just determination, they need support, backup, and resilience around them. With ThreeBlackCats by your side, privacy doesn’t have to be a one-person show. The work will continue even when your privacy person can’t be in the chair, and your organisation can move forward knowing that privacy is in safe hands.