Gartner recently proclaimed that 50% of businesses will review their privacy policies before the end of 2012 in order to properly reflect changes in business practices.
Traditionally it was enough for companies to tell customers their information was protected. However today companies require much greater assurance regarding data management. This has being confounded by new laws affecting mandatory breach disclosure.
Today the public is much more aware of privacy as well as just how detrimental a data breach can be. Furthermore companies are becoming far more proactive in educating their staff.
It is essential that companies tell their customers how they are dealing with new challenges such as the social media phenomenon. Furthermore new strategies must incorporate technologies such as Cloud Computing and location based services.
Gartner have identified five key areas for privacy officers to be concerned with over the coming years:
1) Data Breaches – These are much more easily managed if organisations can compartmentalise and encrypt personal information. In addition access must be restricted, data must be encrypted across multiple devices and protection from rogue administrators or hackers must be enforced.
2) Location Based Services – Organisations collect vast amount of information often without a clear idea of what to do with it.
3) Cloud Computing – One of the core considerations with Cloud Computing should be the legalities of the provider.
This is especially apparent when considering that the US Patriot Act which allows American authorities to seize data under an American organisation, regardless of where it is held.
4) Assessing the Value of Privacy – The balance between not enough and too much protection is a difficult one to strike and one which organisations have to approach carefully.
5) Interpreting the Law – The Law typically lags behind new tech and therefore organisations have to always assess how it will apply to new developments.
