Data Privacy, or information privacy, is the concept of protecting confidential data based on data type. For instance, personal data, is data that can identify a particular individual, such as name and email address. Sensitive data is a subset of personal data that has some heightened sensitivity, such as the identification of one’s religious identification, political affiliation, financial information, and passwords.
Data Privacy is important for many reasons, but one often overlooked reason is that customers do business with companies they trust. Customers trust companies that take data privacy seriously and that generate policies and practices to safeguard customers’ personal data. A recent survey shows that 84% of respondents indicated they care about privacy, care about the data of other members of society and want more control over how their data is being used. Of those respondents, 80% also indicated they would be willing to act to protect their data, and 48% indicated they already switched companies or providers because of their data protection policies or data sharing practices. (Cisco Consumer Privacy Survey 2019).
In addition to gaining their customers’ trust, businesses must comply with a myriad of state privacy statutes, and perhaps even the European privacy law.
For more information on data privacy policies and practices, please contact:
Natalie A. Remien
LEVIN GINSBURG
nremien@lgattorneys.com
312.368.0100