That’s the one-line mission Mark Bussey lives by - both in his privacy work and far beyond it.
Mark’s path into privacy wasn’t a straight line. “It was a happy accident,” he says. Starting out on a legal aid scholarship in the UK, Mark supported vulnerable individuals navigating eviction, benefits disputes, and criminal charges. “At its core, it was about human rights,” he reflects. After redundancy following government cuts, he pivoted to commercial litigation, then took an in-house role where, unexpectedly, GDPR landed on his desk. “No one else wanted to touch it,” he laughs, “but I found it fascinating.” That curiosity led him into the Big Four and now as Senior Counsel, Data Protection, and Commercial Transactions at Relativity, a global legal technology company that helps organizations organize data, discover the truth, and act on it. Relativity’s technology allows legal teams to quickly find and make sense of crucial insights across litigation, investigations, regulatory requests, and data breach response.
So what’s driven Mark through these pivots? Curiosity, again. “When I think I know enough, I close myself off. But staying curious has opened up so many conversations and experiences I never would’ve expected—at work and in life.”
The Openli community has helped fuel that mindset. “It’s a judgment-free zone,” Mark says of the Slack group. “Sometimes I revisit something I’d taken for granted - like a DPIA template - because someone else asked a question I hadn’t thought of.” That kind of peer-to-peer spark, he says, helps him keep questioning and growing.
Mark credits two major influences for shaping his approach: Phil Lee, Zettabyte Lawyer (Managing Director) at UK challenger law firm Digiphile for his ability to make complex legal concepts universally accessible; and Beth Kallet-Neuman, his current boss and mentor. “She’s taught me so much about tailoring communication, especially across cultures,” Mark explains, noting how working globally - including with US and Polish teams - requires constant recalibration of assumptions and tone.
But Mark isn’t just a privacy expert. In another life, he was a professional musician. “People are usually surprised,” he admits. “I toured Japan, Europe, America and ran record labels. I still get Spotify royalties.” His music room is a private sanctuary—filled with vinyl, gig posters, and reminders that he’s more than just a title. “It’s my way of remembering who I am outside of work.”
And yes, he also played football at Real Madrid’s stadium - but that’s a story for another time.
