SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) January 22, 2022
An unprecedented majority of consumers (86%) are deeply concerned about their online privacy, as 62% of business leaders say their organization should be doing more to strengthen existing data protection measures, according to key findings from a 2021 KPMG Global Survey.
Every year since its inception in 2008, Data Privacy Week endeavors to shine a light on the growing concerns of personal data privacy. The intent of this annual week-long initiative created by the National Cybersecurity Alliance is to encourage businesses to be more transparent with how they collect, store and use customers’ data.
In recognition of this year’s Data Privacy Week, privacy tech innovator Lokker has partnered with the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Stay Safe Online, committing to be a 2022 Data Privacy Week Champion.
By doing so, Lokker reaffirms the commitment in its mission to empower companies to take control of their privacy obligations.
“Businesses, customers, families and individuals are continuously sending, receiving, storing and analyzing personal information with every click and view of content on their digital devices,” remarks Jeremy Barnett, Chief Commercial Officer at Lokker. “Supporting Stay Safe Online and bringing greater awareness through Data Privacy Week is essential to helping everyone understand the tradeoffs between convenience and privacy, as well as the safeguards we can all employ to ensure a safer, more private internet.”
Lokker stands with the National Cybersecurity Alliance encouraging businesses to be more conscientious stewards of personal information by respecting customer data and keeping it safe from unauthorized access by outside parties. Additionally, Lokker encourages all consumers to learn more about how they can manage and protect their data.
Privacy Edge™, Lokker’s leading privacy automation platform, is a true game-changer in the world of digital privacy management. Its data privacy control tools make it easy for companies to address privacy concerns and safeguard their customers’ privacy from the enormity of threats arising out of unauthorized behavior from third parties.
Its advanced Privacy Edge™ software powers privacy through robust automation that gives companies complete visibility and control over third- and fourth-party web applications.
With its customizable privacy management toolset, companies can finally obtain insights and gain full control over their website’s privacy by enabling monitoring and control of all outbound user data.
For more information on Lokker, please visit http://www.lokker.com. And to learn more about 2022 Data Privacy Week and how to get involved, visit https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week/.
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The National Cybersecurity Alliance has offered up the following tips to help guide individuals and businesses to better data privacy practices, such as:
For Individuals:
Understand the privacy/convenience tradeoff: Many accounts ask for access to personal information, such as your geographic location, contacts list, and photo album, before you even use their services. This personal information has tremendous value to businesses and allows some to even offer you their services at little to no cost. Make informed decisions about whether or not to share your data with certain businesses by considering the amount of personal information they are asking for, and weighing it against the benefits you may receive in return. Be thoughtful about who gets that information and wary of apps or services that require access to information that is not required or relevant for the services they are offering. Delete unused apps on your internet-connected devices and keep others secure by performing updates.
Manage your privacy: Once you have decided to use an app or set up a new account, check the privacy and security settings on web services and apps and set them to your comfort level for information sharing. Each device, application, or browser you use will have different features to limit how and with whom you share information. Get started with NCA’s Manage Your Privacy Settings page to check the settings of social media accounts, retail stores, apps, and more.
Protect your data: Data privacy and data security go hand in hand. Keep your data secure by creating long, unique passwords and storing them in a password manager. Add another layer of security by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible, especially on accounts with sensitive information. MFA has been found to block 99.9% of automated attacks when enabled and can ensure your data is protected, even in the event of a data breach.
For Businesses:
Conduct an assessment: Conduct an assessment of your data collection practices. Whether you operate locally, nationally, or globally, understand which privacy laws and regulations apply to your business. Follow reasonable security measures to keep individuals’ personal information safe from inappropriate and unauthorized access and make sure the personal data you collect is processed in a fair manner and only collected for relevant and legitimate purposes.
Don’t forget to maintain oversight of partners and vendors as well. If someone provides services on your behalf, you are also responsible for how they collect and use your consumers’ personal information.
Adopt a privacy framework: Researching and adopting a privacy framework can help you manage risk and create a culture of privacy in your organization by building privacy into your business. Get started by checking out the following frameworks: NIST Privacy Framework, AICPA Privacy Management Framework, ISO/IEC 27701 - International Standard for Privacy Information Management
Educate employees: Create a culture of privacy in your organization by educating your employees of their and your organization’s obligations to protecting personal information. Educate employees on your company’s privacy policy and teach new employees about their role in your privacy culture during the onboarding process. Engage staff by asking them to consider how privacy and data security applies to the work they do on a daily basis. Better security and privacy behaviors at home will translate to better security and privacy practices at work. Teach employees how to update their privacy and security settings on work and personal accounts. Learn more.