By: Corey Evans
Today is Data Privacy Day, a day that began in the United States and Canada as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. The celebration commemorates the Jan. 28, 1981, signing of the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection.
The world is becoming more digital and this includes how and where we manage data. Businesses are doing away with filing cabinets and utilizing more cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Business owners are also understanding the many benefits of remote work agreements in the workplace. Excluding freelancers, business owners, and entrepreneurs, remote work has grown 159% in the last 15 years. This has led to more hacking opportunities for those who are not educated on best practices of data privacy.
Data Privacy Day spotlights the value of security and information and it’s important that all business owners take necessary preventative measures to protect business and customer data. Below are 4 tips to help you acknowledge this day.
Unsecured public WiFi is dangerous, especially for banking, shopping, viewing personal/customers’ private information. Use a personal hotspot and/or only log into password protected/secured WiFi networks.
Use encryption technology, virus protection and firewalls on your devices that are accessing sensitive information. This may extend to emails if you are sharing sensitive information via email.
Use long (over 8 characters) strong passwords that utilize, capitalization, numbers, and special characters. Try to create passwords that are not dictionary words and change settings so that your customers cannot create passwords that don’t fit a strict criteria.
How much customer/personal information do you need to keep? Limit that amount of information you ask for where possible. Inform customers that their information is protected and completely destroy (shred and cross-cut) physical files that are no longer going to be used.
Hackers are becoming more skilled and data breaches are happening more often. Secure your data, follow these best practices, and spread the word about Data Privacy Day!
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About Stingray Advisory Group LLC: Stingray Advisory Group LLC is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is a proud member of Local First and the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We help businesses grow. By creating customized solutions, we empower businesses and entrepreneurs with the tools to further their development.
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