Data Privacy Week: Best Practices to Follow

Data Privacy Week evolved from Data Privacy Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about privacy and promote best practices. Led by the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA), Data Privacy Week emphasizes empowering individuals and businesses to understand data protection and adopt proactive measures.

Data Privacy Week is an important opportunity to promote awareness and education with your staff, friends, and family about protecting personal and organizational data.

We’ve outlined some best practices and tips to highlight during the week and implement all year long:

For Individuals

1. Protect Your Data
   • Know what personal information you’re sharing online and how it can impact you. Talk to children at an early age about their digital footprint and online activities and the implications to their privacy, security, and reputation.
   • Review and adjust the privacy settings on your devices, apps, and social media platforms. Taking extra precautions can help ensure that your data is better protected.
2. Think Before You Share
   • Avoid sharing sensitive and personal information, such as your full address, birth date, phone number, or financial details publicly.
   • Limit data sharing to what is absolutely necessary.
3. Use Strong Passwords
   • Create unique, complex passwords for each account. Don’t share them with anyone.
   • Consider using a password manager to safely store all passwords used for multiple accounts for added security.
4. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
   • Add an extra layer of security by enabling MFA on all accounts that offer it.
5. Be Aware of Phishing Scams
   • Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments from unknown sources.
   • Verify the legitimacy of requests for personal information before engaging.
6. Update Your Software Regularly
   • Keep operating systems, apps, and devices updated to fix security vulnerabilities.
7. Understand Your Rights
   • Familiarize yourself with data protection laws like GDPR, CCPA, or others relevant to your region.
8. Understand Data Sharing
   • Learn how your data is collected, stored, and shared by the apps and services you use.
   • Opt out of unnecessary data collection whenever possible.
9. Use Secure Networks
   • Avoid using public Wi-Fi for sensitive transactions, like online shopping or checking your bank accounts.
   • Use a VPN if available.

For Organizations

1. Adopt Privacy-First Practices
   • Limit data collection to only what is necessary.
   • Regularly review and properly dispose of unnecessary or outdated data.
2. Conduct a Privacy Audit
   • Review how customer and employee data is collected, stored, and protected.
   • Identify and mitigate any risks with your data privacy practices.
   • Ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations, like GLBA, GDPR, HIPAA, and CMMC, among others.
3. Promote Privacy Awareness
   • Provide awareness training for employees on data privacy and security best practices, especially for handling sensitive data.
   • Use Data Privacy Week to raise awareness about phishing and social engineering attacks. Share tips and resources with staff and customers.
4. Strengthen Access Controls
   • Ensure access controls are in place to restrict unauthorized access to sensitive data. Only those who need it should have access.
   • Regularly review and update permissions as needed.
5. Create a Robust Privacy Policy
   • Develop clear and transparent policies that outline how you handle and protect customer data.
   • Make your privacy policy easily accessible to users.
6. Secure Data at All Stages
   • Use encryption for sensitive data at rest and in transit.
   • Regularly back up critical information.
7. Prepare for Data Breaches
   • Develop a comprehensive incident response plan and regularly test it to ensure the plan effectively addresses a variety of scenarios.
   • Establish a process for notifying stakeholders promptly and transparently in the event of a data breach.
8. Engage with Stakeholders
   • Collaborate with partners and vendors to ensure they follow robust privacy practices.

Supporting these practices during Data Privacy Week promotes a culture of awareness, security, and trust.

Check our other resources for Data Privacy Week and share them with your staff.

Reach out to us for assistance with your Data Privacy program.

Download our Data Privacy Best Practices Infographics for Individuals and Organizations

Click on the infographic images to download.