Industry
Cyber Security
Data & Cybersecurity for Robust Defense Against Cyber Attacks
Highlights
- Privacy by design is a systematic, automated, and early-stage approach that treats data privacy as an integral part of all business activities.
- Privacy experts should educate the C-suite on risks, emphasizing privacy as a strategic business goal.
- The increasing need for strong privacy requires both top-line attention and a built-in systematic approach that considers things like different market regulations and educating talent on privacy.
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Privacy by design
Organizations must build a foundation of privacy.
As data becomes more valuable, data breaches and other hacks are on the rise, leading to loss of customer trust, damage to multi-billion-dollar brands, hefty fines from regulators, and legal settlements.
To tackle this challenge, many companies have deployed what is known as security by design to drive systemic and cultural improvements in cybersecurity. Now, organizations should apply the same approach with privacy by design — a systematic, automated, and early-stage approach that treats data privacy as an integral part of all business activities.
Here are six key steps an organization should take to adopt privacy by design.
Prioritize privacy
Privacy considerations can’t be bolted onto business processes a week before launch.
Organizations must integrate privacy procedures early, so that all involved business teams are sensitive to how data is collected, encrypted, and stored.
Regulations vary by market, and customers in certain geographies must be able to opt out of data collection or review their files. An early-stage approach allows time to incorporate customer consent and other regulations. Organizations should integrate privacy teams into product development at an early stage, make sure any business operation with access to customer data is paired with a privacy expert, and encourage product teams to recognize privacy as a feature, not an obstacle to functionality or other objectives.
Maximize automation
Automation can help enterprises incorporate privacy more efficiently and effectively.
Automated tools can be used to monitor how data is handled and whether proper regulations are being followed. They also can help organizations respond quickly to customer requests for data review and deletion, as well as to regulator requests to confirm processing records.
If customers must consent to data collection, an automated system can validate their consent before the data is processed. Semi-automated or manual processes, such as customer requests for data deletion, can now be fully automated, freeing up staff to focus on special situations, like privacy incident responses. Specially trained teams can prioritize mitigating bigger risks while automation takes care of the smaller things.
Enterprises must integrate automation into key functions like consent collection, data storage, data marking, and customer requests for data review/deletion, and they must never abandon commitments to privacy standards, even when the data is no longer required.
Build a privacy culture
In any organization, culture will determine the success of privacy efforts.
Employees should feel comfortable and encouraged to ask questions about privacy procedures, risks, and their part in the organization’s larger privacy mission. When employees have a collective understanding of privacy risks and why certain procedures matter, the company’s policies work better overall. Privacy should be championed as a business goal and established as an integral part of a learning curriculum for all parties, including new joinees, as it will ensure compliance for all the stakeholders.
Even if leaders claim privacy is a priority and core value, the business still needs an established workplace culture that values and is mindful of privacy.
Engage the C-suite
For effective privacy, incorporate talent up to the very top of the organizational hierarchy.
To drive company-wide change, C-suite leaders must not only be on board with the privacy strategy, but also engage with and comprehend it. According to TCS’ Risk & Cybersecurity Study conducted with over 600 chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief revenue officers (CROs), data protection and privacy is the highest priority for information security leaders and a main investment focus for the next few years.
Privacy experts should educate the C-suite on risks, making sure to emphasize privacy as a strategic business goal. In this way, the top executives can better understand the role of privacy and hold it to a high standard. Further, privacy becomes part of the fabric of strategic goals and strengthens customer relationships.
Be customer-centric
Put the customer — whose identity, data, and other valuable information are at stake — at the center of crucial decision-making.
Establish privacy as the default position, integrate timely and appropriate alerts for users related to their privacy options, and design all privacy systems prioritizing user convenience and security.
Involve specialists
As with any policy, it matters who implements it.
An essential part of any privacy agenda is a team of leaders, specialists, and others who understand regulatory requirements and know how to build privacy solutions. This cannot be achieved through trainings and seminars alone. As seen with security by design, developers may not have a natural sensitivity toward certain cyber threats.
The privacy by design approach deserves a dedicated, trained group of professionals who are empowered to ensure regulations are followed and data remains secure. These professionals can be attained by seeking out, recruiting, and developing trained privacy experts to identify vulnerabilities and monitor regulations. Privacy awareness should be an essential competency for incoming team members, especially roles in product development, customer care, and leadership.
The increasing need for strong privacy requires both top-line attention and a built-in systematic approach that considers things like different market regulations and educating talent on privacy.
With the ever-growing array of cyber threats, business leaders must prioritize data privacy to legally, safely, and effectively derive value from their data collection.
Note: A version of this article was originally published on CPO magazine.
