Companies are still in the process of navigating the logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic while simultaneously attempting to bolster their diversity and inclusion programs—and it’s likely they won’t be able to do either without running afoul of some serious privacy concerns. The “New Global Data Protection Laws” panel held during Wednesday’s installment of the Association of Corporate Counsel Foundation Virtual Cybersecurity Summit examined how a patchwork of both national and global privacy laws may be continuing to hamper business objectives.

To be sure, COVID-19 and privacy have been entangled since the earliest days of the pandemic. Panelist Frances Phillips Taft, associate general counsel, data privacy and chief privacy officer at 3M, noted that her organization pulled together a weekly “road map” to help track who had access to sensitive information, such as the names of employees who had been diagnosed with COVID-19.