HPX Group's Helios, a business offering end-to-end information security services, has inked a deal to acquire Salinger Privacy, a leading privacy consultancy.

The acquisition will see Salinger Privacy merge with Helios, aiming to provide organisations with a comprehensive solution for navigating Australia's evolving privacy landscape.

Salinger Privacy, established in 2004, has a strong reputation in the areas of privacy consulting, training, and resources. The merger with Helios will bring together legal, privacy, and information security specialists to advise on privacy program design and implementation, legal and regulatory advice, compliance, and data breach and cyber incident response.

The combined services of Helios and Salinger Privacy aim to provide organisations with a comprehensive suite of wrap-around information security and privacy support services. This move comes at a time when recent and impending legal reforms, increased regulatory scrutiny, and heightened consumer awareness necessitate a coordinated and holistic approach to privacy law compliance.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Anna Johnston, Founder of Salinger Privacy, commented on the current privacy climate, "With the latest wave of the Government’s privacy law reforms released earlier this month, organisations economy-wide will need to uplift the maturity of their data handling practices. Every enterprise needs to ensure they have right-sized privacy policies and frameworks, and appropriate training and compliance resources. This is not only to meet evolving legal requirements, but also community expectations as to how personal information is collected, handled and protected."

Johnston further emphasised the importance of privacy compliance in the current age.

"Customers and regulators alike now better understand that poor data handling practices can make businesses vulnerable to large-scale data breaches, as well as costly privacy complaints. Privacy sits at the intersection of law, technology and ethics – and in the age of AI, that means privacy compliance is where the rubber really hits the road. No matter what sector they are in, businesses and brands can’t afford to rely on a ‘set and forget’ mentality."

Nick Humphrey, CEO of HPX Group, echoed Johnston's sentiments.

"As we’ve seen from high-profile data breaches, the impact in terms of consumer churn and loss of trust in the brand when people’s personal information is placed at risk can be enormous. It makes good business sense to view the protection of personal information not as a cost of doing business but as an investment in a valuable asset."

HPX Group, launched in 2018, is one of Australia's fastest-growing professional services groups, with over 450 employees across offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, and Auckland.