Born out of the first international treaty on securing data and privacy adopted in 1981, Data Privacy Day, observed every Jan. 28 in the U.S. and Canada, promotes education and awareness about the importance of keeping your personal information safe, online and off.
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The theme for this year’s Data Privacy Day, which is sponsored in the U.S. by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), is Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust.
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Taking privacy and data precautions is more important than ever in a globalized economy with a growing number of connected devices on the Internet of Things, according to the NCSA. It’s also vital that businesses get serious about data and privacy safeguards, the organization noted, pointing to a recent survey that found that last year one out of four shoppers gave up on an online purchase because of security concerns.
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Businesses Need Clear Safeguards
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While Saturday, Jan. 28 is the actual day of observation for Data Privacy Day, a number of events were held earlier in the week, including a series of NCSA-sponsored talks and programs that were streamed live from Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco on Thursday. Now archived, those presentations can be viewed on the NCSA’s Livestream channel.
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Among the topics tackled for this year’s Data Privacy Day program were Privacy and Connected Toys; Scams, ID Theft and Fraud; and, Privacy and the New President.
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As high-tech offerings like connected cars, smart thermostats and wearables become more prevalent, consumers are going to pay more attention to privacy, NCSA executive director Michael Kaiser said in a statement. So, the clearer businesses can be about their data protection practices, along with the options they provide for consumers to safeguard their personal information, the better.
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Taking Control ‘Easier Said than Done’
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Businesses that collect any kind of data about their customers should…