As the proliferation of smartphones and IoT devices continues, this year’s Data Privacy Day serves as a good reminder for organizations to discuss their own privacy awareness, how to safeguard their data, and how to empower business leaders and teams to take better actions when online.
Data Privacy Day (a.k.a. Data Protection Day) recognizes the Jan. 28, 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty for dealing with privacy and data protection. Today it’s a celebration for all businesses and organizations.
Data Privacy Day is currently led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), which educates consumers on how they can protect their data and their online privacy.
(Related: What are the challenges to encryption? )
This year, NCSA is using its theme of “respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust” to talk about issues like identity protection, privacy awareness, and securing a digital identity.
For NetApp, a data-management company that tries to ensure employees are aware of potential cyber risks, ensuring data privacy is at the forefront. According to Michael Elliott, cloud evangelist at NetApp, the growing attention on data privacy and sovereignty means regulations have heightened, and compliance remains a big concern for companies.
Other concerns that companies face include the impact of the Internet of Things on security and privacy, said Geoff Webb, vice president of solutions strategy at Micro Focus. He said that with these sensors and the deep penetration of these devices into people’s lives, businesses, and homes, the “current expectations and standards around privacy may quickly become obsolete.”
“The immense volumes of information potentially gathered by these devices means that even legitimate use could quickly triangulate the identity of an individual from many fragments of data, exposing our lives to an unprecedented degree,” said Webb. “As of this Data Privacy Day, we have neither the experience as a society nor the legislative framework to decide what should constitute ‘privacy at all,’ nor have to protect it.”
The power of privacy: How organizations are take action
This year, Mozilla had a few announcements in honor of Data Privacy Day, including its newly launched Firefox Focus privacy-centric browser.
