It's Data Privacy Month—Here's How to Avoid the Top Data Privacy Mistakes

As we recover from the holiday rush, it's time to call attention to a day you may not have observed before: Data Privacy Day. Every year, the week around January 28 is dedicated to helping both businesses and individuals understand current threats to their data and learn how to better protect their sensitive information.

For our contribution, we're taking a look at five common mistakes businesses make when it comes to safeguarding personal information—and the data security best practices that can combat them.

Mistake #1: Neglecting Privacy Policy Updates

One of the key aspects of Data Privacy Day is ensuring your business is handling client data responsibly and that customers are fully aware of how their information is being used. One of the best ways to do this is to keep your data privacy policies current.

Review your privacy policies quarterly or annually to make sure they're still effective and make any changes needed to improve security and stay compliant with applicable laws and regulations. Be transparent with users about how you collect, store, and use data, including how and if you share any information. Update them about any changes you make to your policy.

Mistake #2: Ignoring Data Encryption

Encryption is one of the most important data security best practices: it secures data by converting it into undecipherable code so that, even if intercepted, only authorized parties can access it. Failing to establish a detailed encryption policy significantly increases the risk of data breaches and sensitive information being used for malicious purposes.

Utilize encryption across all data storage and transmission systems to confirm that data is secure both at rest and as it moves between departments. When communicating within the  company or with customers and other external parties, use a messaging platform that allows end-to-end encryption so your conversations can stay private.

Mistake #3: Skipping Data Privacy Training for Employees

Human error is one of the leading causes of data breaches, with some sources estimating it as the cause of up to 95% of incidents. You can help lower that statistic by dedicating some time and resources to training your employees on data security best practices. Training may include: 

• Identifying phishing attempts.

• Using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.

• Securely handling and storing customer data.

• Reporting suspicious activity promptly.

Mistake #4: Storing Excessive Amounts of Personal Data

It's normal to end up with excess data that you may have collected from transactions, surveys, or new accounts, but holding on to this information places you at a higher risk of losing sensitive client and employee data and exposes your business to greater liability in the event of breach. Unnecessarily storing personal information is also a violation of some compliance regulations.

To avoid these risks, regularly review your data retention policies to ensure you're following data security best practices and keeping only what's necessary. 

Take advantage of modern tools like automated systems that will purge or anonymize data when you're done using it, and run frequent data storage audits to delete any unneeded or outdated information.

Mistake #5: Failing to Have an Incident Response Plan

A well-designed incident response plan (IRP) is crucial to keeping your data safe. Without a clear and structured approach to data security best practices during a cyber incident, critical time is lost, potentially exacerbating the damage and exposing sensitive information.

You can sidestep these losses with a comprehensive IRP that includes procedures for identifying, containing, and recovering from threats. Include communication steps that comply with legal requirements such as GDPR's 72-hour notification rule. Train your team on their roles during a data breach and run regular drills to make sure everyone understands what to do.

Secure Your Data with ICS

Keeping your data safe and secure doesn't have to be complicated. Our team here at ICS is well-versed in data protection, storage, encryption, backup, recovery, and more—everything you need to preserve the integrity and security of your (and your clients') sensitive information.

Ready to make the most of Data Privacy Day? Schedule a call with one of our team members to review your data security best practices and see what you can do to improve your privacy.

Get started today with the right managed service provider for your business! Schedule a free assessment for your business today!