“Data,” as we know it, has evolved and grown in stature and importance significantly over the past decade. Data has gone from being a simple component of computing processes to becoming an integral part of business operations (data science). Data is the actual product/asset in several notable cases and a key business differentiator for several firms.
Data now fuels many industries – generated through targeted, personalized advertisements to mobile and website tracking of users to learn about their behaviors and preferences.
As the application and the value of data grows, so does the potential to exploit it. As a result, the privacy of individuals is under significant threats than ever before as malicious actors, data brokers, and several other business entities try to harvest, sell, or monetize personal or enterprise data for their own commercial purposes.
While most organizations process personal data for business purposes, they run the risk of running afoul of global data privacy regulations owing to a lack of awareness about the data privacy principles laid down in regulations such as the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Recently, there have been public data breaches and regulatory actions on several organizations when they were found to be in breach of trust of their customers by engaging in personal data processing in violation of these data privacy acts.
To this end, Data Privacy Day – celebrated on January 28th – is dedicated to ensuring that data collection, use, and sharing is conducted ethically by organizations, and individuals are appropriately sensitized about the importance of their personal data privacy and their rights as the owner of their personal information. This includes educating end-users on best practices to ensure their data is not captured without their consent, advising them against sharing sensitive data unless absolutely necessary, and improving the security of their data altogether to prevent identity theft and unauthorized profiling.
At Cyble, we believe that a critical step in contributing towards Data Privacy Awareness is helping people understand the extent of their personal data exposure on the surface web and the darkweb and help them safeguard themselves from potential personal data breaches.
On this Data Privacy Day 2022, we invite you to head over to AmIBreached.com to assess your personal data privacy exposure and be a part of the growing privacy-aware community.
