Happy Data Privacy Day!

Happy Data Privacy Day! This year, the National Cybersecurity Alliance has expanded the annual Data Privacy Day campaign into Data Privacy Week, a full week-long initiative. Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of Data Protection Day in Europe. Data Privacy Week helps spread awareness about digital privacy and educates people on how to manage their personal information and keep it secure. Data Privacy Week also encourages businesses to be more transparent about how they collect and use customer data. So how can you celebrate Digital Privacy Week?

For Individuals:

Everything you do online generates data about your activities, behaviors, and interests. There’s your personal data, like your social security and driver’s license numbers. And there’s data about the physical you, like health data. It’s easy to feel a lack of control over the information collected about you. However, there are steps you can take to learn about the types of data you’re generating online, and how it’s collected, shared, and used.

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with data privacy, and companies are realizing this and responding. We encourage consumers to be selective about who they choose to do business with and understand the value of their data.

Some steps you can take to better manage your personal information are to understand the privacy/convenience tradeoff, manage your privacy, and protect your data. Many online accounts ask for access to personal information, such as geographic location, contacts list, and photo album, before you even have the chance to use their services. This personal information has tremendous value to businesses. Make informed decisions about whether to share your data online by considering the amount of personal information that is being asked and weighing it against the benefits you can receive in return. Make sure to always check the privacy and security settings on online services and apps that you use and set them to your comfort level for information sharing. Furthermore, you can keep your data secure by creating long and unique passwords for each of your online accounts.

For Organizations:

Respecting consumers’ privacy is a smart business strategy for creating trust and enhancing reputation among your customers. Be open and honest with users about how you collect, use, and share their personal information. Communicate clearly and concisely to the public what privacy means to your organization and the steps you take to achieve and maintain privacy.

Some steps that businesses can take to ensure that they are managing their consumers’ data wisely are to conduct assessments of their data collection practices, adopt a privacy framework, and educate the employees of their obligations to protect users’ personal information. Whether your business operates locally, nationally, or globally, understand which privacy regulations apply to your business. Follow reasonable security measures to keep users’ personal information safe from unauthorized access and ensure that the personal data you collect is only for relevant and legitimate purposes. Create a culture of privacy within your organization by educating your employees about your company’s privacy culture and ensuring that they are aware of their obligations to uphold that culture.

With Amber X, you are in control of your data with visibility into how it is used. It allows you to share your data with who you want and when you want. You can access your data globally and store that data locally.