We live in a world where it’s nearly impossible to go more than a few days without seeing a news story about data breaches, and hacks that expose millions of personal records to cybercriminals. People are looking for ways to secure their information online.
But it’s important to understand how to safeguard the personal information that goes into your online business to meet your legal obligations and protect consumers’ privacy. Here are some tips to help.
1. Identify Personal Data
As defined by the laws protecting data according to the law, personal data is information that identifies or can be used to identify an individual. In the digital age it could be anything from biometric data to email addresses. A variety of types of information, which could be considered personal, can be excluded when certain conditions are satisfied. For example, if an organisation collects various kinds of data about individuals and they’re all asked to state their occupation this is likely not personal data because it can’t be used to identify one person.
Many organizations are required to restrict the amount of personal information they collect, and this is usually a good thing as it can reduce the likelihood of a security breach. In addition, many lawful data protection regulations require an increased level of security for sensitive personal information than normal personal data. This is because a breach could result in more negative consequences for the person who is affected.
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