Looking outwards
Alumnus Paul Breitbarth’s view on Lifelong Learning
When Paul Breitbarth went to study law in Maastricht in 2000, the subject of privacy law did not yet exist. He is now a privacy lawyer, works for Catawiki as Data Protection Lead, and is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity (ECPC). What is his view on Lifelong Learning?
A golden opportunity
The people are slowly emptying out of the coffee corner at Kapoenstraat 2. The first lecture for the two-year Advanced Master in Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Management is about to begin. Paul will sneak in later, after the interview. ‘In September 2021, we started work on this Master’s programme. In Spring 2023, I get to teach the first batch, which I find quite exciting. At this point, I am familiar with the basic courses and in-depth courses, but this will be completely new.’ An educational experience, then? ‘Absolutely. I see it as a golden opportunity to teach here. Most of the students are professionals who already work in this field, and there is always someone who asks an unexpected question. That keeps things fun, because it forces me to go back to basics. What does the law actually say again?’
International character
In 2000, Paul came to Maastricht to study law. ‘It was a conscious choice, because the problem-based learning and the city were really appealing to me.’ As far as he was concerned, his degree only really became interesting when he was allowed to choose his own courses. ‘I chose constitutional law, some administrative law, and a lot of European law.’ In 2003, he went to Bordeaux for a year of European law and politics. ‘That was a great combination and shows the strength of Maastricht University's international character.’ Paul never really let go of that open view of the outside world, as we will see later.
Proud
At the time – before the GDPR, Edward Snowden, and WikiLeaks – the topic of privacy played a marginal role in the world, and Paul focused mainly on constitutional law and Europe. This is how he ended up in The Hague, as a staff lawyer of the Dutch Senate. Coincidence or not, the first file to land on his table was ‘privacy’. He sinks his teeth into the subject, reads, and learns about it. After a few years, he made the switch to the Dutch Data Protection Authority where he worked on the international team. Once more, an example of looking outwards. ‘I learned what was going on in the rest of the world in terms of privacy and what companies were dealing with.’ Over the years, the theme has become an integral part of the scientific, social, and political debate. ‘By now, privacy law is included as standard in our faculty. I am quite proud of that, because it really shows Maastricht University to be progressive.’
Yearly training course?
After eleven years of working for the government, Paul made the switch to the international business sector. The coronavirus pandemic threw a spanner in the works, but as of the beginning of this year, he is Data Protection Lead at the Dutch company Catawiki. ‘Now I am suddenly on the “other side” and can follow my own advice,’ he laughs. The result of this is that he can use his own lived experience directly in the lecture room. ‘I have learned how to write more targeted pieces of advice, so that you can clearly inform and advise management.’ To Paul, lifelong learning results from the day-to-day matters more than only following a yearly training course. ‘My professional field is developing at a rapid pace. A course from time to time is fine, in addition to following a webinar, listening to podcasts, following leading experts on social media, and talking to my students. I enjoy going to conferences, and then I also find it interesting to speak at them. It’s a way to share your experiences with others.’ And that is what he is going to do now, because he is just in time for the last part of the opening lecture of the master’s programme.