With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility
I am here at the sold out IAPP 2014 Global Privacy Summit in Washington, DC and the conference has kicked off with great keynotes and breakout sessions including this one that ties nicely into the ANNUITAS focus on Strategy, Thinking Ahead vs. Keeping Up: The Challenge to Think Strategically. The theme that I keep seeing and hearing is that data privacy is everyone’s responsibility within an organization. This includes collecting data, storing data and disposing of data – privacy touches all departments within an organization.
If this is true- where should an organization start to ensure best practices?
Don’t be greedy: Only ask for the data that you really need for business purposes. Don’t over collect data that you don’t plan on using and storing for your recipients. It not only could become a larger privacy issue, but it also means higher storage costs for your organization. Another reason this best practice? When you ask your recipients for only the data that you will need and use, they will feel comfortable about signing up for your emails and marketing notices.
Get organized: Data is useless if you can’t access it. Organize the data well, internally, so you can access it, correct it, and query it in a way that is useable for other parts of the organization. Being able to correct any data discrepancies not only makes the recipient feel better about the data you have about them, it is also the law in many parts of the world.
Be good stewards: Shred and dispose of data properly that you don’t need or use any longer. Adhere to your organization’s privacy policy about data storage and disposal so that again, you are only storing data you absolutely need. If you need assistance in better understanding this, work with your approved data destruction vendors and make sure they are liable for any data breaches that could occur if the situation arises.
There are many moving parts to the IAPP Global Privacy Summit and I hope to take learn more throughout the conference and breakout sessions. The great thing about the organization and the Summit is that there is something for everyone (marketing, sales, executives and privacy professionals) and we all share unique experiences that will help ensure optimal privacy, deliverability and compliance best practices for our organizations. Remember- data privacy is everyone’s responsibility.
Author: Chris Arrendale, CIPP/US CIPP/IT, CIPM @arrendale is Chief Deliverability and Privacy Strategist, ANNUITAS
