On Data Privacy Day, Organizations Fail Data Privacy Expectations

upstart writes:

Data Privacy Day rolls around year after year, and data privacy breaches likewise:

There are continued breaches of data privacy, and according to Omdia's Security Breaches Tracker, approximately two-thirds of security breaches involve data exposure, many of these of personally identifiable information (PII). Data Privacy Day serves to highlight the inadequacies of data protection and to support the confidentiality of information.

Omdia's Cybersecurity Decision Maker survey, conducted in the second quarter of 2022, found that 32% of organizations are "extremely confident" in their organization's security controls, and a further 58% describe themselves as "reasonably confident." However, this confidence is likely misplaced. The same survey found that 77% of organizations have suffered numerous security incidents and breaches, some with a severe impact on the organization. Realistically, strong security controls should be preventing some of these incidents and breaches.

[...] Better cyber hygiene would result in few breaches of data privacy; however, cyber hygiene is not a one-and-done task. Cyber hygiene can be defined as the good practice that all organizations can follow to minimize the opportunity for cybersecurity incidents to materialize. Examples include timely patching, password management, backups, and more.

[...] Data privacy legislation has been enacted around the world, and there are plenty of examples of breaches of data privacy legislation. A significant fine of 390 million was issued to Meta (which owns Facebook) for breaking EU data laws on using personal data to deliver targeted advertisements. The ruling rejected Meta's argument that when people engage with social media platforms, such as accepting terms and conditions, they are actually agreeing to receive personalized ads. The ruling was made this month (January 2023), and Meta plans to appeal the decision.

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