Happy Data Privacy Day!

Data Privacy Day - held every year on January 28^th, and coordinated by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), is an international effort to create awareness of privacy and data protection issues among consumers, organizations, and government officials. It has a theme of "Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust." So how does one accomplish this? Below are some tips for best practices that businesses could use to protect consumer data:

• Collect and use  personal information only if it is needed.
• Dispose of personal information safely and securely when it is no longer needed.
• Identify what sensitive information you have and what you use it for.
• Encrypt sensitive data.
• Identify processes that handle sensitive data, locate where that data is stored, & create an access control system.
• Institute a good privacy policy, and make protecting sensitive data a part of company culture.
• Conduct due diligence and maintain oversight of partners and vendors.  You are also responsible for how they collect and use personal information.

The goal of this day of awareness is to educate consumers about their vulnerabilities and to encourage businesses to take seriously their responsibility to protect personal information. However, data privacy shouldn't be a once-a-year thing. It should be something that we pursue every month, week, and day!

By Rupal Talati.