Keeping personal data private is a hot subject. Businesses such as Google and Facebook have been ridiculed in regards to their privacy policies, as personal information gathered from users has been leaked to the public on several occasions. Most recently, the University Well being Network produced headlines when patient data was stolen due to the theft of an unprotected USB key- we discussed the topic in the post “Maintaining Information Security and Privacy.” Sharing information has been produced easier due to the Web and electronic files, which raise concerns when it comes to regaining control over individual info protection. As technologies advances, the risks surrounding data privacy continue to increase. Will your organization be ready to respond to tighter data controls?

A Call to Action

Sponsored Links

According to the Ottawa Citizen article “World is losing grip on privacy: watchdog,” Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian stated:

“The world has much less than a decade to make the protection of individual data and on the internet privacy a priority before the concepts are lost forever. Ann Cavoukian says legislation meant to safeguard privacy already can’t keep pace with the flow of details and advances in technology.”

The Ottawa Citizen article raises the point that there are presently no laws in place requiring private organizations to disclose incidents where personal info has been leaked or stolen. However, many companies only go public about data privacy breaches if there’s a substantial amount of data lost- with every company’s definition of “significant” varying considerably. The post then suggests that governments around the world ought to take privacy matters into their own hands in order to protect personal data and hold companies responsible for failure to do so.

I really feel that it would make a distinction if governments enforced higher control and accountability of privacy problems. Nonetheless, in order to reach ethical objectives and act as good corporate citizens, firms should develop privacy protection controls into their business methods immediately. Firms can’t afford the expenses associated with details breaches or the lack of trust from the public- take initiative and be proactive in protecting information.

Suggestions for Keeping Personal Info Private

Accountability: Treat individual client, employee and patient data as if it were your company’s most critical trade secrets. If an details breach occurs, make an announcement instantly- regardless of the size of the breach.

The Ottawa Citizen article “World is losing grip on privacy: watchdog,” by Vito Pilieci, discusses Cavoukian’s suggested program for implementing stricter privacy laws:

“Cavoukian has been trumpeting her Privacy by Style agenda to privacy commissioners all over the world. The idea takes a radical look at the way privacy problems are governed and forces companies to make the safeguarding of personal information the regular in every new item, technologies or service they release. Prior to mining personal data, a corporation ought to approach every individual, ask for access to the info and explain specifically what the info is going to be utilized for. Quite a few European countries, as nicely as the U.S. are adopting Cavoukian’s idea.”

Define Intention and Use of Information: Let consumers, clients and the general public know what is done to personal info when it has been collected by a company and provide them with choices as to no matter whether or not they grant your business permission to share their details. Men and women want to know that businesses are taking the proper measures to keep their info secure. Consumers use cards that contain individual information to pay for items, they are asked to divulge increasing amounts of information and proof of identity when signing up for services or creating purchases and in return, organizations are becoming trusted to use this data for the sole purpose of supplying the service or business transaction- not selling client lists to advertising firms.

Believe of Your Users Initial: Privacy concerns have increased drastically due to the rise of social media. Google and Facebook have demonstrated a lack of concern for the privacy of their users, as both firms only took additional privacy matters into consideration right after services were launched and users had been furious with the lack of data protection.

When Google Buzz first launched, a lot of Gmail users were confused by the service and the ability to opt-out of it in order to refrain from having their contacts, location, comments and other data offered to anybody viewing them. In response to the criticisms, Google made many announcements and several privacy revisions. Google encouraged users to set their privacy settings to the appropriate level they desire and disabled users’ auto-connect capabilities so that they now have the opportunity to accept and reject people’s requests to connect.

In the hydro industry, houses in Ontario are going to be added to a smart grid program, which is described in the Ottawa Citizen write-up:

“With a smart meter, the electrical utility knows how considerably electricity a person is utilizing and when. The utility can also tell when a individual is home or out, based on power usage. Some utilities in the United States have expressed interest in selling that information to marketplace analysis organizations. Cavoukian believes that information need to not be shared openly. She said she has been working with Toronto Hydro and Hydro One to ensure utilities in Ontario keep personal information private. The two significant utilities have agreed to make privacy a top priority. ‘It’s your details, you ought to be able to choose what happens to it,’ Cavoukian said in applauding the approach of the Ontario utilities.”

I’ll have to side with Cavoukian on this issue- I ought to be able to decide what occurs to my personal information. The next time your corporation collects a client’s information or launches a new item or method, think about the impact it will have on your company’s ability to protect individual information.