Data Privacy Day 2021

Data Privacy Day is an international effort held annually on January 28 to create awareness about the importance of privacy and protecting personal data. It is the American and Canadian equivalent of Europe's Data Protection Day and commemorates Convention 108, the first legally-binding international privacy and data protection treaty signed in 1981.

The goal of Data Privacy Day 2021 is to empower individuals to "Own Your Privacy" and organizations to "Respect Privacy."

Consumers are beginning to realize how important data privacy is to us, not only as consumers but, more importantly, as private citizens. Those who were "of age" before the internet now depend on it daily, while little by little surrendering more and more of their personal data, either knowingly (giving credit card information to make a purchase) or unwittingly (private credit card purchases shared with many data brokers). Even worse, younger generations have grown up believing this is just the way it is and don't hesitate to divulge personal data, often forgetting that "the internet is forever."

If asked about privacy, many people would admit to being concerned about the lack of data privacy, not realizing the scale of the problem or how they can take steps to protect themselves. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) offers tips on how individuals and organizations can own and protect personal data. On the individual level, treat your personal data like money. It has value and should be protected.

Carefully scrutinize your apps and the personal data they collect — are all their requests relevant to the applications' purpose? Probably not!

Learn how to use your privacy settings to limit the amount of information you're giving out. Consider whether you would really benefit from that IoT, always-connected device you're thinking of buying. Promising convenience, these devices are hard to resist but are easy for hackers to infiltrate and for personal data to be misused, causing significant downsides for privacy.

As a member of numerous professional privacy and security associations, Privacy SWAN Consulting offers privacy training for both individuals and organizations. We want you to Sleep Well At Night (SWAN), and to that end, we provide answers to the why and how of privacy and data protection. For complete information about Data Privacy Day, visit the NSCA at www.staysafeonline.org. The site includes thorough information about privacy concerns, ways to get involved, and a comprehensive Data Privacy Day 2021 Toolkit to get you started.

Use #PrivacyAware to join the conversation and follow NCSA on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to stay updated on all things DPD.