Data Privacy in Events: What You Need to Know and Do

Event planning used to focus on venues, schedules, and creating great experiences. Today, it also involves understanding data privacy. With increased data threats, stricter regulatory pressure, and higher expectations for privacy, it's not enough to simply collect attendee information; as an event manager, you need to protect that data, ensure compliance with privacy laws, and build trust with your attendees at every touchpoint.

What Is Data Privacy?

Data privacy is a set of principles, practices, and processes created to protect personal and sensitive information from loss, corruption, or unauthorized access. It ensures data remains secure, available for business operations, and compliant with privacy laws.

Key Data Privacy and Protection Laws You Should Know

With the growing importance of data across sectors comes an equally growing risk of exploitation. That’s why laws have been created to make sure personal information is collected, stored, and used responsibly. Here’s a quick look at some of the key data privacy laws around the world:

1. GDPR (European Union)
2. UK GDPR
3. CCPA / CPRA (California, USA)
4. LGPD (Brazil)
5. PDPA (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia)
6. PIPEDA (Canada)
7. POPIA (South Africa)

Why Understanding Data Privacy Matters in Event Management

Knowing data privacy inside out helps prevent misuse, leaks, or unauthorized access, keeping sensitive attendee and staff information secure. It also ensures you stay compliant with data privacy laws, which is especially important for international events. As you probably already know, international events often include participants from multiple countries. This means you are dealing with multiple, sometimes overlapping data privacy regulations. By understanding data privacy and the relevant laws, you can ensure compliance across all jurisdictions, protect attendee information, and run your event smoothly without legal or operational surprises.

Data Privacy Best Practices Every Event Manager Must Know

In case you missed it, more than 70% of respondents to a study report seeing significant benefits from their data privacy efforts. While the risks of mishandling data are real, the advantages of doing it right far outweigh them. Here are six best practices that show you exactly how to get data privacy right from the start.

1.  Collect Only Necessary Information

The first rule for maintaining data privacy? Only collect the information you need. Focus on essentials like names, emails, ticket types, and access credentials. Avoid gathering sensitive or unrelated data, such as birthdates, addresses, or demographics, unless absolutely necessary. This approach not only keeps you compliant but also limits the damage in case a breach ever happens.

2. Use Clear Consent

Your attendees and staff have the right to know how their personal information is collected, used, and stored. Consent ensures that this right is respected and protected. 

When asking for consent, use clear, plain language and require an active opt-in, such as a checked box or confirmation. Avoid bundling consent with general terms, and only ask for permission to collect data that is truly necessary. Additionally, make it easy to withdraw consent at any time, and keep proper records of when and how consent was given. 

3. Leverage a Secure Database

One of the most reliable ways to practice responsible data management is by using a secure database. A database is where all attendee and staff information is stored. Without a properly secured database, sensitive data can be exposed to unauthorized access, putting your event at risk of legal issues, financial loss, and reputational damage.

Opt for a database that supports encryption both in transit and at rest, ensuring data cannot be read if intercepted. Additionally, apply role-based access controls so that only authorized personnel can view or modify sensitive information. Also, enable multi-factor authentication for all administrative accounts and restrict access to trusted devices or networks whenever possible. Don’t forget to regularly back up data and store copies securely to prevent loss during system failures or cyber incidents. 

4. Vet Third-Party Vendors

In a recent report on data breaches, 30% of data breaches were said to be linked to third-party involvement. If you think that’s bad enough, wait until you hear that this figure is twice that of last year.

In event management, third-party tools, platforms, and vendors are no doubt extremely valuable, but they pose real risks if their security practices aren’t carefully evaluated. It’s essential to evaluate how your event partners handle data. Review their security standards, data handling processes, and breach response plans.

5. Have a Breach Response Plan

If you think data breaches are one in a million, you’re wrong. According to Statista, nearly 94 million data records were leaked in breaches during the second quarter of 2025 alone. Data breaches can happen to anyone, even if you have a sophisticated security plan. That’s why having a breach response plan is crucial.

A breach response plan helps you handle data breach incidents, helping you limit damage, meet legal obligations, and keep attendees' trust intact. To create a breach response plan, start by assigning specific staff who have knowledge of data breaches to manage the incident and set clear communication protocols for internal teams, affected attendees, vendors, and regulators. Define timelines for every step, including reporting within legal windows. Outline how to contain the breach, assess its impact, and document all actions. Regularly test and update your plan to reflect new technologies, staff changes, or evolving regulations, ensuring your team can respond quickly and effectively.

6. Limit Data Retention

Limiting data retention means storing data for only as long as it is needed to run the event or meet legal obligations. This approach reduces the chances of data breaches, limits potential liability, and shows attendees that you handle their information responsibly.

Before the event takes place, define retention periods for all types of data in your database according to event purposes and legal requirements. For instance, registration and payment information should be deleted or anonymized soon after the event unless legally or operationally necessary. Always use secure deletion or anonymization methods and keep detailed records of your retention and deletion procedures to demonstrate compliance with privacy laws.

Ensure Event Staff Data Privacy Using StaffConnect

Successful events start with properly protecting and managing event staff data. StaffConnect makes this easy to achieve. 

An all-in-one event management platform, StaffConnect stores talent information in an encrypted database, letting you control access to sensitive details like names, contact info, and payment data. Custom profiles ensure you only collect what’s necessary, while GPS check-in/out maintains operational oversight without exposing personal information.

Securing and protecting staff data is just the beginning. StaffConnect helps you manage both your event and your team with ease. Onboard staff with simple registration, contact them via live chat or SMS, send automated reminders for shifts and required tasks, run multi-currency payroll that calculates payments, taxes, and deductions accurately, use the survey builder to collect feedback or track performance, and much more.

With StaffConnect, privacy, compliance, and efficient event management are built into every step of your operations. Book your free demo today to learn all the details.