Interview with Philippe Ebert, DPO of the Dassault Aviation Group

In what context did you use Adequacy?

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With the entry into force of the GDPR, we have set up a network of correspondents in order to structure and complete our register. The context made us favor a tool mastered by everyone and which seemed to us to meet the demand: excel.

Then the implementation quickly made us realize that to coordinate a network of around thirty correspondents, Excel tables were no longer suitable.

When we were ripe to adopt a more industrial solution, we approached AFCDP and thus met with various RGPD software publishers, including Adequacy.

Our choice fell on Adequacy, above all for its ease of use. The fact that it is published by a French company — a very important criterion for us — whose boss Christian des Lauriers received us not as a customer but as a partner, also played an important role in our decision.

Our first contact took place at the end of 2022 and we started to deploy the solution in mid-2023. The solution is easy to learn, even for users who are not computer scientists. The online help, which is very well done, makes our task much easier.

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What has Adequacy changed for you?

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Being able to integrate our subsidiaries and offices abroad allows us to have control over all of our treatments and an overall visibility of all of our treatments. Thanks to Adequacy, we have reached a milestone in terms of auditability.

The tool also allows us to have a better quality register: thanks to the guided mode of the software and the integrated consistency and completeness checks, users better understand the challenges behind each field to be filled in, which helps us to better complete them.

I also remember the traceability of our changes made possible by the tool, which can be very useful in the event of an inspection by the Cnil.

Finally, the tool supported us in our desire and policy of transparency. It allowed us to make all HR processes and purposes concerning them easily available to our employees, with a level of detail greater than what the legislation requires and an ability to communicate updates almost immediately.

From the initial search for a simple tool, we are now working with an extremely comprehensive tool that meets well beyond the needs we initially expressed, without having become a gas factory!

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What do you think are the strengths of the Adequacy team?

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Adaptability and efficiency are for me the two strengths of the Adequacy team, which knows its product very well and is constantly listening to its customers.

The teams are agile, the tool is flexible and the changes requested are possible because everything is developed in-house.

They have a very thorough customer approach, a capacity for advice and support that make them a real partner, which makes the relationship very comfortable and positive.

I would add that the data recovery phase (often critical) when we went to their home was very optimal: in my opinion this was the first illustration of their ability to adapt and their effectiveness!

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What is your vision of the DPO of tomorrow?

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At first, the GDPR was considered to be an obscure regulation, and compliance was a cost and a “business” constraint. It was necessary to convince people of its validity, demonstrate both pedagogy and firmness in order to obtain the support, the resources and the available time of the key actors. Things have changed: the DPO and the network of correspondents are recognized, supported by the General Management, and this trend will increase in the years to come.

With the European legal arsenal that will soon come into force (IA Act and Data Act in particular), we will be able to capitalize on the system put in place to extend its missions: not only to comply with the regulations but also to take advantage of them.

Thus, for example, for a group like ours that on the one hand is embarking on the IOT (and increasingly), and which delivers increasingly connected airplanes, the DATA Act will give us rights vis-à-vis our suppliers and obligations towards our customers. The establishment of a network of correspondents on which we can capitalize is a competitive advantage allowing us to exercise our rights and respect our duties!

It is the revenge of DPOs: this profession will become more and more essential to allow organizations to understand, respect and take advantage of these European regulations, which increasingly regulate the use of digital technology; to make the most of it!