Effectively protecting data privacy is no small feat; The stakes can be quite high, especially when you’re collecting sensitive personal information and financial data such as credit card numbers. A single security breach can be extremely costly, especially when it comes to lost business and lost consumer trust. So on this Data Privacy Day, hosted by the National Cyber Security Alliance, take some time to consider whether one or more of the following tips could benefit your business.
How to Protect Personal Data and Other Sensitive Information
It’s common for companies to collect personal information and other sensitive data — information that must be protected on behalf of customers and clients. Let’s look at a few ways to protect data privacy and minimize the risk to your company and its clients/customers.
- Implement multiple user roles to provide users with access to the bare minimum data that the individual needs to perform their job. This prevents unnecessary exposure to sensitive data.
- Encrypt sensitive data and personal information. This protects the data in the event of a security breach or similar. Other measures such as anonymization or pseudonymization can also be useful.
- Implement the right security measures to protect your data lakes, databases and any software that uses sensitive data. These security measures can include multi-factor authentication and geofencing capabilities. If you’re uncertain whether you have sufficient security measures in place, consult a data security expert.
- Continually evaluate (and re-evaluate) your hardware for any security threats that could compromise your data. For example, out-of-date operating systems can open the door to security breaches on devices that are used to access sensitive data.
The last point surrounding hardware can pose quite a challenge for any company that allows staff to work on their own devices. A BYOD policy can be convenient in many ways, but many companies have opted to abolish this allowance due to the many security risks. Companies that do allow staff to use their own devices may wish to develop custom software that checks the device and its settings to ensure it’s secure, particularly if the user is accessing sensitive data.
Additional Tips to Protect Data Privacy at Your Business
With the implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data privacy has become a very relevant topic for companies worldwide. That’s because any company that serves EU residents is subject to GDPR and its potential penalties, which can total up to 20 million Euros or 4% of the company’s global turnover for the prior year. The implementation of the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) has brought similar regulations to the USA, making data security a concern for even more businesses.
In fact, GDPR is one of the topics that will be explored in-depth on Data Privacy Day. The National Cyber Security Alliance will be hosting live events which will be broadcast online beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST / 10:00 a.m. PST today, January 28, 2020.
7T has written extensively on the topic of data privacy, as it’s a very real concern for many of the clients who come to us seeking custom software platforms, data lakes, mobile apps and help with other development projects. Here are a few blog posts that you might find useful on the topic of personal data privacy and data security.
Tips for Data Collection: Data Privacy Best Practices
Mobile Data Collection and Vehicle Security Concerns
Biometric Data Security Issues, Vulnerabilities and Solutions
How to Ensure Data Lake GDPR Compliance
How to Ensure GDPR Compliance for Software Development Projects
What is Data Governance and Why Does Your Business Need It?
The Difference Between Data Management vs Data Governance
At 7T, we have extensive experience in the realm of data security and data governance, from creating data lakes and a data governance plan, to establishing predictive analytics engines and data visualization tools that allow users to understand data like never before. We also have a team of talented custom software developers, so we’re well-positioned to assist with any custom development projects, including those that require higher-than-average security features such as encryption and geofencing.
7T has clients in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Austin and beyond. We provide a complete suite of high-tech service offerings, including ERP and CRM development, cloud integrations and system integrations. So if you’re in search of an innovative team to guide your business as you work to make the most of your data, contact the team at 7T today.
