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| The kids are online giving away their personal data… |
We live in a digital society. Since their invention, smartphones have acted as our own personal assistants. They connect us to our friends, family, colleagues, and clients. They allow us to do our banking and help us manage our finances through various apps. They allow us to search and find whatever information we need within seconds. And that doesn’t even include the Internet-connected smart devices like door locks; speakers you can use to order from e-tailers, check the weather, or control other smart devices in your home; or even doorbells and floodlights that can double as home security cameras.
This means that we all need to be more aware of cybersecurity measures and how bad actors can exploit weaknesses in these devices to get our information.
Today is the last day of the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Data Privacy Week, an initiative that the company says “aims to inspire dialogue and empower individuals and companies to take action.” An expansion of its original Data Privacy Day, this week has been filled with virtual events that increased awareness about online privacy and educated everyday people on how to manage and secure their personal information. Data Privacy Week also encouraged businesses to respect customer data and be more transparent about how they collect and use it.
We all know that consumers need to be more aware of how much info they give away and to whom (how many of us had searched for something only to have a targeted ad show up in our social media a few minutes later?), but businesses also need to be more wary about how they gather and then use this data. More and more privacy laws are coming to fruition—like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—so companies would be wise to start doing more than just not abusing the information their customers and clients provide.
Beyond its 5 Ways to Help Employees Be Privacy Aware tip sheet, the NCA suggests:
- Working with leadership to create a “culture of privacy” at work that educates employees about the importance of protecting data
- Have an official statement on your website or sales materials that highlights what you are doing to maintain privacy
- Include information in community newsletters and other communique with clients
Keypoint Intelligence has had a great interest in data security and smart technology for a while now. A number of our analysts and authors have written blogs and done podcasts discussing the need for greater cybersecurity and the weak points where tech has fallen short. Having an organization like the NCA provide expert-led Twitter chats and webinars only further drives our message that while we do what we can to keep our information safe, there’s still more we can do.
