Common Myths About Data Privacy

Data privacy is a hyper-prevalent concern for modern businesses. Data is collected and shared en masse every second of every day. It’s important that businesses are take the necessary steps to protect user data and keep it private. Of course, when a topic is as pervasive as data privacy, there are going to be some common myths and misconceptions that arise from the ether. In this blog post, we’ll be looking at some of the most common data privacy myths and providing the facts to debunk them.

It is only relevant for personal information.

One common myth is that data privacy only pertains to personal information. Data privacy actually affects numerous types of data. While it’s true that personal data is collected, there are also many organizations that collect demographic data to categorize users and customers. There is customer data, business data, employee data, business data, financial information and many other data sets to consider. 

Organizations need to take the necessary steps to protect all of their data from breaches and attacks. In short, data privacy is important for individuals and organizations, as it protects confidential information from authorized use and access.

Encryption is the only solution.

Another common myth is the belief that encryption is the only solution for protecting your data. While encryption is important, it’s just one tool in the data privacy toolbox. There are numerous measures and procedures that can be implemented to keep data private and secure. Some examples would be restricting access to sensitive data, utilizing 2FA solutions, implementing data governance policies, backing up data, doing regular security audits and more.

Businesses need to continually reassess their security measures, making sure they’re up to date with the latest technologies and compliance regulations. You should certainly be using encryption, but you shouldn’t view it as your sole data privacy solution.

It is only a concern for large companies.

Another common misconception is that data breaches and attacks always happen to large companies. Because large companies have huge amounts of potentially sensitive data, many assume that they’ll be the primary target for cyber attacks.

While it’s true that large companies may face harsher repercussions for data breaches, small and medium-sized companies are not exempt from complying to data privacy regulations. All businesses must be aware of their data privacy obligations and should prioritize keeping this information secure. In fact, some attackers may even seek out smaller businesses knowing that they may be neglecting their data privacy measures. It’s also worth remembering that a lack of data governance could lead to insider attacks, since information isn’t restricted in any way.

Along with facing potential compliance fines, data breaches can result in a loss of customer trust and a hit to an organization’s reputation. Just because your company has never experienced a data attack before doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future.

The IT department is solely responsible for protecting private information.

Another common myth is that an organization’s IT department is responsible for making sure everyone’s data stays protected and secure. While it’s true that the IT department will establish data security policies and implement security measures, data privacy is the responsibility of everyone at the company. Employees should follow the proper security protocols to ensure data is being shared and accessed in a secure manner. If employees aren’t following the security measures laid out by the IT department, there isn’t much the IT department can do to keep things contained.

Private information may be accessed and handled every day in an organization. There’s no way an IT department can monitor data usage and manage risk at all times. Management should also make sure that employees are properly trained to follow data privacy protocols, so everyone has the tools and resources necessary to follow these protocols to the letter.

Data privacy regulations are only enforced in certain countries

It’s a common misconception that data privacy laws don’t cross international borders. Many countries enforce specific data privacy laws that companies must adhere to if they want to collect data and operate within those countries.

These regulations typically cover how personal data is handled, stored and collected. Whether you’re a multinational company or a small company that operates across borders, it’s important to be familiar with these data privacy laws and regulations. Some prominent examples include the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), EU ePrivacy Directive, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA), and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act of Canada (PIPEDA).

Even if your company is based elsewhere, you have to keep these compliance regulations in mind if your website or app is accessed or used by users in these countries. Data privacy is a global concern, and companies can face fines and compliance violations if their data governance and privacy compliance measures aren’t in place. Not only will taking the necessary precautions save you from violating these laws, but it will protect the data of your users and your business as well.

It is too expensive to implement.

Many companies, especially companies that are smaller, think that it may be too expensive to implement data privacy and security protocols. Fortunately, data privacy is such a prevalent concern that there are many affordable solutions out there. Practices like encryption, two-factor authentication and access control can all be implemented with minimal expense. Data security platforms and tools can also be very affordable, with pricing tiers that fit the needs of smaller or medium-sized businesses. 

It’s also important to note that the cost of ignoring data privacy compliance can be much greater than the cost of implementing data security measures. Data breaches and compliance fines can be detrimental to the longevity of a business. Not only can these fines be costly, but you also can lose loyal customers. No matter the size of your business, there is likely an affordable data security solution for you. In the end, data privacy is an investment that will pay for itself many times over.

Learn More With Secoda

It’s important for organizations to implement tools and solutions that can help them leverage your company data to its maximum potential. Secoda is the best solution for managing your data and empowering self-service analytics in your organization. By creating a searchable, single source of truth for your data, you can make it easier for your teams to get actionable insights and useful data without having to rely on the data team. It’s your all-in-one data catalog, documentation and data lineage workspace. Secoda also helps you with your data governance through our data access management tool. Our tool lets you manage data governance across your entire data stack.

Also, Secoda is built with industry-leading security standards to ensure your data stays secure. Secoda is SOC 2 compliant, so you can trust that we keep your data safe. Additionally, all data you manage through Secoda is encrypted. Other security standards we have in place include SSH tunneling, auto PII tagging and allowing you to host Secoda in a self-hosted environment. Interested in learning more? Try Secoda for free today.