“Every year January 28th is celebrated as Data Privacy Day across the world and since 2021, the 22nd to 28th of January is observed as Data Privacy Week. Initially started by the Council of Europe in 2007, more than 50 countries across the world now observe Data Privacy Day and showcase for an entire week why Data Privacy is of paramount importance. This is a week where an international effort is made to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. Every year, experts chose a theme to increase awareness around a particular section of data privacy and this year the theme is ‘Protecting Personal Data at Home and Work’.
The reason we are emphasizing data privacy is because our dependency on technology has increased at an unprecedented rate. This is especially true post-pandemic when almost all sectors have moved towards more digital-friendly, tech-savvy platforms and environments. Although we live in an increasingly digital world, most of us give little thought to data privacy until after our personal data has been compromised. With the number of endpoints increasing stupendously and our interaction with them, the risk of a data breach also increases. And with 4.66 billion people in the world who are active internet users, there is an incalculable amount of unsecured data waiting to be stolen. We need to understand that data privacy and security are two different concepts. Data privacy doesn’t just stop with us safeguarding our passwords and personal information. It is got more to do with what measures we take to protect our information. This time can be used to educate our families, employees and the public in general, conduct workshops and point towards plenty of articles online on how to keep the data private and hope the measures work,” Rajesh Thadhani, Executive Director – Digital Transformation & Services at Crayon Software Experts India.
“Data privacy is a much-talked-about subject in the present day as there is an imminent threat to it. Data privacy violations have become rampant today when excessive data sharing has been taking place knowingly and unknowingly. There is a dire need to extensively create awareness of the differences and understanding between data privacy, protection and security. This is essentially where the organizations and experts are failing. The Data Privacy Week from January 22nd to 28th and the Data Privacy Day on January 28th are created for the solemn reason of spreading the message about data privacy with the theme. And this year’s theme with tech advancement is right on point ‘Protecting Personal Data at Home and Work’.
As BYOD is being given a higher preference across verticals and the number of devices that have amplified data privacy has become a myth. The data stolen or those shared without much scrutiny with even basic mobile applications have huge demand over the dark web as these data help the market to analyze and create a customized target map. Strict laws are needed and users are in need of detailed education on data privacy. While sometimes the breach of data privacy results in unsolicited calls from companies it can also take a dangerous turn causing identity theft, losing money and manipulation of the system – public or private. Keeping these aspects in mind it would be best for people to keep their systems and gadgets work or personal to be used with precaution and for any data sharing to be done with a thorough understanding of the risks. While one cannot escape data sharing during this digital time, data privacy with the right understanding and measures can definitely be achieved, especially with awareness being created around the same,” Harikrishna Prabhu, COO at TechnoBind Solutions.
