Learn about these data privacy controls

When you’re about to embrace the new data economy, you’ll want to ensure you have data privacy controls in place. This will mean any and all sensitive information is safeguarded and you can enjoy the data sharing revolution.

What are data privacy controls?

Data privacy controls (or data security controls) are company-specific safeguards that are put in place to protect sensitive information that’s been collected and housed. They can also be used as a counteractive measure against unauthorized use, which is becoming a growing concern every year as we see heightened breaches both internally (through misuse or malicious intent) and externally (through hackers, malware, phishing scams and more).

These data privacy controls are implemented to not just detect and avoid potential security risks, but also to minimize the impact of data misuse or counteract it entirely.

The complexities of data privacy controls require experts in data practices to build out solid foundational controls that secure the entire organization – and all its housed data – against attacks. That’s why the role of Chief Data Officer is such a crucial one in our information-rich society.

The importance of good data security

What is the value of any one item of data? What about one million items? When housed correctly and protected by good data security practices, that data is extremely valuable – particularly to other companies that may wish to ‘pull’ information from your collection in a mutually beneficial data sharing arrangement.

So it’s clear that the importance of good data security rests in the hands of the operators – i.e. Chief Data Officers – as well as the hardware and software used to store, manage, share and analyze that data.

Without proper data privacy controls, the threat of a data breach, data loss or worse is untenable. And if the worst does occur, not only will the company lose its valuable data and the trust of its clients, but it may also be liable to pay severe fines determined by any relevant regulatory authorities, such as the GDPR.

GDPR controls

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) controls the legality of all data flowing in and out of the European Union. Not only that, but the regulation extends to all enterprises around the world that have any sort of connection (even a third-party connection) to entities within the EU.

That means if you are a Chief Data Officer for an Australian company – where all data is housed on Australian soil (or in Australian servers) and all your staff are based in Australia – but you have dealings with clients in the EU, then you must abide by all the policies outlined in the GDPR. It also means any misuse will see you liable for prosecution or severe fines, up to €20 million or 4% of your organization’s annual global turnover, whichever is worse.

If that’s not enough to implement adequate data privacy controls, nothing is.