In a previous video, we talked about what a Privacy Program is. In this video, we look at six reasons why your organization needs a privacy program.
Reason No. 1 – To Comply With the Law
A privacy program may be essential for your organization to comply with federal and state law.
- Medical records
- Education records
- Disability information
- Employer background checks
- Financial records
No matter what business you are in, you likely collect, use, store, disclose and share a lot of personally identifiable information that is protected by law.
To comply with the law, you may need a designated privacy officer and policies in place to protect the privacy and security of that data.
Reason No. 2 – To Meet Industry Standards
Your organization may have agreed to abide by industry standards.
Take credit cards, for example. The credit card industry requires everyone who accepts credit cards to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
You’re required to protect your network, protect stored credit card information, apply strong access controls measures, regularly monitor and test your network, and create security policies for employees and contractors.
Are your policies compliant? Don’t assume so.
A privacy program will ensure that all standards applicable to your organization are properly addressed.
Reason No. 3 – It’s a Business Differentiator.
The news is replete with examples of companies that squandered consumer trust.
In the first three months of 2024, there have been over 700 million records breached in 658 publicly disclosed incidents.
And that’s just the breaches we know about.
A well-run privacy program keeps you out of the news for data breaches and reinforces positive customer relationships.
Reason No. 4 – It Protects Your Business Data Too.
Good security practices not only protect consumer data, they protect your business data too.
Lax privacy and security controls can lead to loss of proprietary business data.
The same techniques employed by threat actors to steal consumer data, can compromise your business plans.
Improving security controls not only protects customers’ privacy, but also your organization’s secrets.
Reason No. 5 – It Enables You to Scale and Grow.
A good privacy program creates a foundation for your organization to grow.
Every state has it’s own privacy laws, and every country has it’s own regulatory scheme.
With a privacy program in place, you may already satisfy the laws in those other jurisdictions. But if not, you are not starting from scratch.
With concepts like privacy by design integrated throughout your organization, you can more easily adapt to the laws in new markets, even if those markets are on the other side of the globe.
Reason No. 6 – It’s the Right Thing to Do.
Respecting privacy is a fundamental aspect of maintaining trust with your customers and employees.
Data breaches can harm customers financially, reputationally, and emotionally. It leads to identity theft and the feeling of being violated.
A robust privacy program helps ensure that personal data is handled responsibly and ethically, further strengthening the bond between your organization and its stakeholders.