Today, January 28, is officially Data Privacy / Protection Day.
Data Privacy Day began in the US and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is observed annually on January 28.
In partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Abacus Group has registered as an official Data Privacy Day Champion, showing our support and dedication for respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. As part of our role as a Champion, we want to share some important data privacy tips and tools provided by the NCSA.
What is Data Privacy Day?
Data Privacy Day helps spread awareness about privacy and educates citizens on how to secure their personal information. It also encourages businesses to be more transparent about how they collect and use data.
What is the difference between Privacy and Security?
Security refers to the ways we protect ourselves, our property, and personal information. It is the first level of defense against malicious attacks. Privacy is our ability to control access to our personal information.
Privacy Tips for Businesses
- If you collect it, protect it. Follow reasonable security measures to keep individuals’ personal information safe from inappropriate and unauthorized access.
- Be open and honest about how you collect, use, and share personal information. Think about how the individuals may expect their data to be used, and design settings to protect their information by default.
- Build trust by doing what you say you will do. Communicate clearly and concisely to the public what privacy means to your organization and the steps you take to achieve and maintain privacy.
Privacy Advice for Individuals
- Personal info is like money: Value it. Protect it. Information about you, such as your purchase history or location, has value. Be thoughtful about who gets that information and how it’s collected through apps and websites. You should delete unused apps, keep others current and review app permissions.
- Share with care. Think before posting about yourself and others online. Consider what it reveals, who might see it and how it could be perceived now and in the future.
- Own your online presence. Set the privacy and security settings on websites and apps 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.
- Think before you act. Information about you, such as the games you like to play, your contacts list, where you shop and your geographic location, has tremendous value. Be thoughtful about who gets that information and understand how it’s collected through websites and apps.
- Lock down your login. Your usernames and passwords are not enough to protect key accounts like email, banking, and social media. Strengthen online accounts and use strong authentication tools like unique, one-time codes through an app on your mobile device (i.e. two-factor authentication).
Privacy Tools
Along these lines of security and data privacy protections, Abacus provides many features to clients to help with security and privacy. Most recently we announced our new AbacusID™ option for AbacusFLEX™ clients, providing secure single sign-on and user access management for 3rd party apps. We also encourage all clients to use our two-factor authentication solution.
