Why Data Privacy is Vital in Today's Digital Age

We are living in a digital economy where data is more important than ever before. What will power the future economy? Of course, it’s data! The essential and evolving resource. Raw data, like fuel, is not valuable in and of itself; the value is produced when it is collected fast, thoroughly, accurately, and connected to other relevant data. When properly processed, it becomes a decision-making tool by delivering insightful information that helps businesses to intentionally and effectively react to competitive dynamics.

All businesses need to enable trust by respecting privacy and safeguarding the data. That’s why regulations like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have come into action. They insist on strict access controls to protect sensitive personal data.

This blog focuses on what is Data Privacy and why should companies prioritize it.

An Introduction to Data Privacy

Data privacy generally means “the ability of a person to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent personal information about them is shared with or communicated to others. This personal information can be one’s name, location, contact information, or online or real-world behaviour”.

From a business point of view, data privacy is the protect the PII of employees and customers. This involves information like proprietary research, development data and financial information.

Why is Data Privacy Important?

The protection of personal data is crucial as it is often considered a fundamental human right in many jurisdictions and laws exist to uphold it. Trust in organizations handling personal data is also vital for individuals to feel comfortable engaging online. Data protection practices are used by organizations to show they can be trusted with personal information.

Failure to protect personal data can result in criminal activity, unwanted marketing, and restriction of freedom, not only causing harm to individuals but also potentially damaging a business’s reputation and incurring legal repercussions. Privacy also holds intrinsic value as a fundamental right in a free society.

Data Privacy Vs Data Security

Data privacy and data security may sound similar but they share different meanings.

Data privacy is often concerned with ensuring that the data any particular organisation processes, maintains, or transfers are consumed legally and with the agreement of the data holder.

Whereas, Data Security is focused on the protection of personal data against unauthorised third-party access or exploitation. In this instance, the data is accurate, trustworthy, and user-friendly.

This table demonstrates the differences between data privacy and data security.

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What are Sensitive data and data breaches?

Sensitive data:

Sensitive data is highly confidential that must be kept secure and out of the hands of anybody who does not have the authorization to view it.

Access to sensitive data should be restricted by implementing adequate data security and information security measures to prevent data leaks. The increased regulatory scrutiny surrounding sensitive data protection has resulted in an urgent need for better data management, third-party risk management, and stronger cybersecurity.

Data Breach:

A data breach occurs when information is taken or removed from a system without the owner’s knowledge or authority. A data breach can occur in either a small or large firm. Stolen data may contain sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information such as credit card details, customer information, corporate secrets, or national security concerns. The consequences of a data breach might include damage to the target company’s reputation as a result of a perceived “betrayal of trust.” Victims and their clients may potentially incur financial damages if associated data are included in the stolen information.

GDPR – The lawful framework data:

To prevent data breaches and leakage of sensitive information, GDPR came to the scene on 25th May 2018. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal regulation that updates and unifies data privacy rules within the European Union (EU).

The new protocol focuses on making corporations more transparent and extending data subjects’ privacy rights. The GDPR also demands that personal data be stored securely; the rule states that personal data must be safeguarded against “unauthorised or illegal processing, as well as accidental loss, deletion, or degradation.”

The GDPR 2016 is divided into eleven chapters that cover general provisions, fundamentals, data subject rights, data controller or processor duties, transfers of personal data to third countries, supervisory authorities, member state cooperation, remedies, liability or penalties for breach of rights, and miscellaneous final provisions. Recital 4 says that ‘processing of personal data should be aimed to assist mankind’.

How does InFynd hold data in accordance with data privacy laws?

InFynd is committed to following best practices on data protection and working closely with data suppliers to ensure that data is collected in a compliant manner. They will ensure all data is kept up-to-date and accurate.

InFynd will use the legal basis of ‘Legitimate Interest’ for direct marketing and balance it with the interests and rights of the data subject. They will also provide marketing communications that operate on an unsubscribe or opt-out basis.

InFynd will also process data under ‘Consent’ and provide it to customers on this basis. They will no longer offer email addresses on non-registered businesses as it is not possible for their third-party suppliers of email data to capture consent to the full extent required by GDPR. They will comply with any new guidance criteria under the EU’s ePrivacy regulation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, at InFynd, we take data privacy seriously and understand the importance of protecting our customers’ personal information. We have implemented strict security measures and regularly review our policies to ensure that your data is safe and secure with us. You can trust that your personal information is in good hands with InFynd.

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