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Data Privacy and the Regulatory Compliances

You've probably heard the expression "data is the new oil." Well, data today is fuelling an increasing number of businesses. Personalized customer experiences, automated marketing messaging, and science-driven insights all depend on the quality and volume of your information. Companies are eager to gather data, and understandably so. Legislators, on the other hand, are keen to protect the privacy and safety of individuals.


Data privacy Laws and DPDP Act (INDIA):

India's data privacy framework has evolved significantly, culminating in the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act). This legislation establishes comprehensive guidelines for the processing of digital personal data, balancing individual privacy rights with the necessity for lawful data processing.


Key Provisions of the DPDP Act:

  • Consent Requirement: Data Fiduciaries (entities processing personal data) must obtain explicit consent from individuals (Data Principals) before processing their personal data.

  • Data Principal Rights: Individuals are granted rights to access, correct, update, and erase their personal data. They can also nominate another person to exercise these rights in case of death or incapacity.

  • Protection of Children's Data: The Act includes specific provisions to safeguard children's data, prohibiting processing that could be detrimental to their well-being or involves tracking, behavioral monitoring, or targeted advertising.

  • Data Protection Board of India: The Act establishes the Data Protection Board of India, an adjudicating body responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Act and addressing grievances related to data breaches.


Data Privacy vs. Data Security

While they are often used interchangeably, data privacy and data security are distinct concepts:

  • Data Privacy: Refers to the proper handling of sensitive data, including when and how personal data can be collected and shared. It's about the ethical and responsible use of data.

  • Data Security: Focuses on protecting data from unauthorized access, theft, or corruption. It encompasses tools and practices like encryption, password management, and network monitoring.

The threat of malicious hacking can be external or internal. An IT team may use a wide arsenal of tactics, such as encryption, tokenization, hashing, and other practices, to protect data across applications and platforms. 


Data Breaches and Sensitive Data

A data breach is an intentional or unintentional release of confidential data that exposes it to an untrusted environment. Other common terms for this include "unintentional information disclosure," "information leakage," "data leak" and "data spill." 

Data breaches can occur in a variety of ways and contexts, from malicious attacks by criminal hackers, political activists, or foreign governments, to careless processing when disposing of computer equipment or other data storage media.


What are some of the challenges businesses face when protecting user privacy?


Communication: Organizations sometimes struggle to communicate clearly to their users what personal data they are collecting and how they use it.


Cybercrime: Attackers target both individual users and organizations that collect and store data about those users. In addition, as more aspects of a business become Internet-connected, the attack surface increases.


Data breaches: A data breach can lead to a massive violation of user privacy if personal details are leaked, and attackers continue to refine the techniques they use to cause these breaches.


Insider threats: Internal employees or contractors might inappropriately access data if it is not adequately protected.


What are some of the most important technologies for data privacy?

  • Encryption is a way to conceal information by scrambling it so that it appears to be random data. Only parties with the encryption key can unscramble the information.

  • Access control ensures that only authorized parties access systems and data. Access control can be combined with data loss prevention (DLP) to stop sensitive data from leaving the network.

  • Two-factor authentication is one of the most important technologies for regular users, as it makes it far harder for attackers to gain unauthorized access to personal accounts.


These are just some of the technologies available today that can protect user privacy and keep data more secure. However, technology alone is not sufficient to protect data privacy.




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