As humans, we constantly battle the balancing act of our online life with offline life. Unfortunately for us, those lines can be easily blurred; from oversharing to data breaches, there is much opportunity for disaster. This is precisely where the power of data privacy comes into play.
Data privacy often referred to as information privacy, is the proper handling of sensitive data, including personal and other confidential data. This type of data can include financial, intellectual property, and more. Data privacy is all about limiting who has access to this information and how they can use it. Now, do you see its importance? If not, keep reading; there’s a lot more to uncover here.
Data Privacy and Your Safety
Whether or not you are an avid internet user, the probability that your personal information is available online is more significant than you think. From Google to personal social media accounts, it’s beyond your control once your personal information reaches the internet. Data privacy is important because it has regulations to protect your information. The concept is centered around the way data should be collected, stored, managed, and shared with third parties.
Securing your customer’s sensitive data should be your main priority. Cybercriminals are attracted to cracks in an organization’s or platform’s security infrastructure. Ensuring that all data privacy rules and regulations are followed by your organization, employees, and customers is vital to safeguarding information.
3 Elements of Data Privacy
The CIA Triad is a benchmark model created to govern and evaluate how organizations store, transmit, and process data. According to CISecuirty, below are the top three elements of data privacy:
- Confidentiality – Data shouldn’t be accessed without proper authorization. This ensures that authorized parties are the only people that have access to the information.
- Integrity – Data shouldn’t be altered or compromised. This element assumes that data remains in the intended state and should only be edited by authorized parties.
- Availability – Data should be accessible upon legitimate requests only. This ensures that all authorized parties have access to the data when required.
The main goal is to give individuals control over their data while it is in the hands of a third party. Companies need to understand how to respect personal data while also processing it. Trust is a significant piece of a successful business, and people need to feel like their information is in safe hands.
So Why is Data Privacy Important?
There must be a reason why this topic has its own day every year, right? The answer is yes. Data privacy is important because it holds organizations and individuals accountable when dealing with confidential information. Regulatory compliance is an essential piece to this puzzle because it requires businesses to meet legal responsibilities for collecting, storing, and processing the personal data of their partners, customers, and employees. Any form of non-compliance or misuse of information could lead to a significant fine or lawsuit.
Long story short, it is vital to ensure all your bases are covered when it comes to data privacy to prevent any unwanted activity or breaches. As 2022 begins, it is 100% better to be proactive with your data instead of reactive. It’ll save you money, time, and your brand reputation in the long run.
