Why Do You Need to Care About Data Privacy Day

By now you’ve probably heard the word ‘data breach’ somewhere in the news or in some daily discourse. As we, collectively as a human race, move toward a more digital world, we are becoming more prone to the threat of compromising our personal data. So celebrating Data Privacy Day on 28th January acts as a little reminder for us to be more cautious of when, where, and how we disclose our personal information.

Digital technologies have made the collection of our private data more accessible and thus exposing it to attackers ready to exploit that data for their own profit. We’ve heard about the biggest scams that have happened in the past few decades where even the tech giants were unable to protect the confidential data of thousands of their users. For the security of this confidential data, we can hold these companies accountable, but what about the data that we give away on a daily basis to companies that do not regard our information as private by default?

Who do we hold responsible in this case? Is it the government, the companies that collect such data, or ourselves?

Most of us do not even understand the difference between data privacy and data security and thus become complacent in exposing our personal data to unseen but prying eyes. This also happens because the two terms are often used interchangeably and are also closely interlinked.? To make the distinction between the two terms easy to understand, let’s work with an analogy. Data security is like installing bars or lasers in front of your safe to protect it from being burglarized. Data privacy is more like putting blinders on your windows so that no one knows what goes on inside your home.

To be more specific, even though the organizations collecting our data are partially responsible for protecting it, the onus of securing our personal data eventually falls on us and we must take all the precautions necessary to keep ourselves safe. Let’s look at some of the ways in which you can protect your data privacy:

1. Run the latest versions of operating systems and software on all your digital devices.
2. Periodically review and update your web browser’s privacy preferences. Make sure to clear the cache and delete any cookies.
3. Routers that allow wireless devices to connect to your home internet services are also subject to hacking. Reset your home network router to stay safe.
4. Regularly update your passwords and set a different password for each of your online accounts. If it's hard to keep track of all the different passwords, use a password generator tool that generates random passwords but requires you to remember only one.
5. Shred any hard copies that you may have of all your tax documents, legal papers, invoices, financial records, etc. This is an important precaution to take because not all data thieves work on the internet.

So on this Data Privacy Day, let’s pledge to follow all necessary precautions to stay vigilant and also spread awareness about data privacy and keep everyone around you and yourself safe. Let’s remind ourselves of the constant threat of being victims of personal data exploitation and identity theft that looms over us. Stay vigilant, and stay safe!