Is your data privacy policy up to date?

5 Top Data Privacy Tips for Your Organisation

1. Change how you look at data.
   Everything has a price – and people are paying big money for data. Treat data like holding physical gold.
2. Review your policies often.
   Regulation is rapidly changing, as are the risk profiles. You should be reviewing your data privacy policy at least twice a year.
3. Take some serious steps to secure the data that you store.
   Focus on your biggest weakness – you and your employees. Get training early and often. Encrypt everything.
4. Have a plan in place.
   Data breaches are incredibly stressful, and your actions dictate the response of customers and regulators later. Planning ahead can make all the difference.
5. Ask if you really need the data you’re collecting at all.
   Too many companies collect data without giving thought to the risk they’re taking on. Do you actually need a customer’s full name and address? Could you use a third-party payment processor? Less data = less risk.

Challenges Ahead

Make no bones about it – the last decade has been the decade of data abuse. From monetisation through Facebook and Google to secret government initiatives like the NSA’s PRISM, data privacy hasn’t been very well respected these last 10 years.

It’s hard to see this trend reversing course for the next decade. Reliance on services which monetise personal data is increasing, from Facebook Messenger to Amazon Alexa.

Intelligence legislation is becoming increasingly draconian (more on that below). But perhaps the biggest challenge for data privacy will come from the many new ways data will be used in the next decade.

The buzz in Australia around ‘Smart Cities’ is a perfect example. The premise sounds great – an interconnected ...

Continue Reading