WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year, worrisome headlines jolted consumers into reality about protecting personal data. A recent survey indicates that 90 percent of those polled were "very concerned" about their privacy. Our always-connected lives require that we understand how our data is collected, used and shared and what actions to take to better manage our personal information. In addition, businesses of varying industries and sizes must recognize that transparency builds trust and it is critical to communicate clearly, honestly and often about what happens to consumers' personal information.  

We are in an unparalleled age of technological growth. By 2020, there will be an estimated 24 billion internet-connected devices globally – which is more than four devices for every person. Consumers have an increased understanding about the importance of privacy and want to know how their information and is being used and protected. This new era of privacy has tremendous benefits; yet, coupled with these infinite opportunities are challenges. As businesses learn to extract value from and utilize data at a deeper level, it is essential for companies to be extremely conscientious about protecting personal information. For any organization, respecting consumers' privacy is a smart strategy for inspiring trust and enhancing reputation and growth.

Data Privacy Day, led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in the United States, is built on the theme, "Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust."  To generate awareness about the day,  NCSA will host a timely event, titled  A New Era in Privacy ‒ streamed live from LinkedIn in San Francisco, CA on Monday, Jan. 28. NCSA will convene leading experts from industry, government and nonprofits to discuss how to best bring this new dynamic into focus and address future challenges.

"As we continually share more data on our connected devices, businesses are collecting and using this personal information more than ever before. Just think about everything we do online – from healthcare and banking transactions to posting family vacation photos to pinpointing our location at any given time. Data Privacy Day provides an opportunity for everyone to encourage organizations to improve data privacy practices and inform consumers about the number of ways their information is being used," said Kelvin Coleman, NCSA's executive director. "In short, privacy is good for business. If companies protect data and respect privacy, they will earn the trust of their customers. It is, however, up to all of us to learn about and practice simple steps to help protect our personal information."

Advice for Organizations: Privacy is Good for Business
Create a culture of privacy in your organization. Educate employees on the importance and impact of protecting consumer and employee information as well as the role they play in keeping it safe. 

Top Three Tips to Build Trust

• If you collect it, protect it. Follow reasonable security measures to keep individuals' personal information safe from inappropriate and unauthorized access.
• Be open and honest about how you collect, use and share consumers' personal information. Think about how the consumer may expect their data to be used, and design settings to protect their information by default.
• Build trust by doing what you say you will do. Communicate clearly and concisely to the public what privacy means to your organization and the steps you take to achieve and maintain privacy.

Advice for Consumers: Safeguarding Your Data and Managing Your Privacy
Personal info is like money: Value it. Protect it. Information about you, such as your purchase history or location, has value ‒ just like money.

• Share with care. Think before posting about yourself and others online. Consider what it reveals, who might see it and how it could be perceived now and in the future.
• Own your online presence. Set the privacy and security settings on websites and apps to your comfort level for information sharing. Each device, application or browser you use will have different features to limit how and with whom you share information.
• Lock down your login: Your usernames and passwords are not enough to protect key accounts like email, banking and social media. Strengthen online accounts and use strong authentication tools like a unique, one-time code through an app on your mobile device.

Join In and Support the Greater Effort
NCSA encourages everyone to do their part to promote a culture of privacy. Here's how you can get involved this Data Privacy Day and year-round:

• Become a Data Privacy Day Champion: Individuals and companies can get involved and actively show their dedication to respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. Champions receive a toolkit of privacy awareness materials that they can use to educate themselves, their colleagues and communities. Becoming a Champion is easy and does not require any financial support.
• 5 Ways to Help Employees Be Privacy Aware: This tip sheet shares ideas to help promote awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust throughout the workplace.
• Join the conversation on social media: Using the hashtag #PrivacyAware, post on social media about why privacy is important to you and/or your organization. Download our social media posts and graphics.

Resources  
Consumer
Get Involved Infographic: Learn simple, actionable advice you can use to educate people about privacy at home, at work and in your community. 

Social Media: Use #PrivacyAware and share the importance of data privacy for your family, community and workplace. Empower others to protect their personal online data by tweeting, "I am #PrivacyAware, are you?  Find out at https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/."

Lock Down Your Lockin: Usernames and passwords are no longer enough to keep your accounts secure. Anyone with your username and password can access your account. Visit LockDownYourLogin.com to easily learn how to move beyond the password and better secure your online accounts.

Verizon: With technology constantly changing, it can be challenging to keep up - and to manage your family's technology usage. That's why Verizon has partnered with leading online safety partners to provide you with resources so you and your family have the confidence to use technology safely and responsibly. Learn more here: https://www.verizon.com/about/responsibility/online-safety

Identity Theft Resource Center 2018 End of Year Data Breach Report: The amount of information stolen through data breaches emphasizes the need for stronger security measures for data privacy and a consumer push to not only ensure they are personally keeping as much of their information private as they can, but to question the need for businesses to retain their data. The Identity Theft Resource Center's 2018 End of Year Data Breach Report sponsored by CyberScout will be released on January 28, 2018.

Yubico: Sixty-three percent of respondents in Yubico's upcoming authentication research survey say they have become more concerned about the privacy and security of their personal data over the past two years. The study, which will be published on January 28, 2019, covers the pitfalls of current security options as well as approaches to help individuals manage and protect their data both personally and professionally.

Business
CyberSecure My Business™ is a national program helping small and medium-sized businesses learn to be safer and more secure online. The program is a series of in-person, highly interactive and easy-to-understand workshops based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. 

Cybersecurity Awareness Toolkit: The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Facebook and MediaPRO have joined forces to develop an easy-to-use cybersecurity guide with a breadth of helpful resources to help launch your own cybersecurity awareness program. The materials are all free and address both opportunities and challenges that SMBs face each day.

Protect Your Customers: NCSA and the U.S. Small Business Administration have teamed up to create this helpful tip sheet.

Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) Blog Series: FPF wants to know what you think will be the major data privacy issues ten years from now. FPF is commemorating its 10^th anniversary with a series of interviews with FPF policy experts on hot topics in data privacy – such as connected cars, student privacy and genetic tests – including what we may see in the next decade. The series kicked off on January 9 and will run weekly through FPF's 10^th anniversary celebration on April 30. The inaugural post will feature an interview with FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky. With Congress likely to consider privacy legislation this year, this series will help you stay on top of important privacy topics. https://fpf.org/tenth-anniversary/

Events
Twitter Chat: Thursday, Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. EST/noon PST
Data Privacy Day is only a week and a half away, which makes it a great time to think about how your business collects, stores, manages and uses data. Personal information about customers and employees may be important to the operation and prosperity of your business – but the protection of that data and transparency of how it's used has tremendous value for your consumers. During this Twitter chat, we'll let the experts discuss the importance of safely handling data, what things to consider when collecting and protecting this information and how to create a #PrivacyAware workforce across all levels. Use #ChatSTC to join!

Twitter Chat: Thursday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. EST/noon PST
Data Privacy Day is less than a week away! With smart technology advancing and taking a more prominent role in our daily lives and the introduction of new regulations, the digital landscape is shifting rapidly and forging a new era in privacy. In this #ChatSTC Privacy experts with diverse perspectives will explain opportunities and challenges for the privacy road ahead. Use #ChatSTC to join!

New Era in Privacy: Monday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. PST
NCSA will host a timely event – entitled  A New Era in Privacy ‒ streamed live from LinkedIn in San Francisco, CA on Monday, Jan. 28. Join us via livestream to learn about timely issues from leading privacy experts that impact both business and consumers.

IAPP's Privacy After Hours: Monday, Jan. 28
In recognition of Data Privacy Day, the next Privacy After Hours is Monday, January 28. Interested in hosting a Privacy After Hours? Check out the FAQ Page to learn more.

Privacy Ref's Workshop(s): Monday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. EST, Delray Beach, FL
Privacy Ref is proud to announce that we are an official training partner of the IAPP. You now have the opportunity to learn from one of our knowledgeable privacy professionals using the most respected training content in the industry. Learn more here: http://privacyref.com/iapp.php

Rice University Symposium on Data Privacy: Monday, Jan. 28, 1 to 5 p.m. CST, Houston, TX
BioScience Research Collaborative at Rice University
Speakers and panelists will provide a platform for stimulating discussion on the current practice, challenges and research in data privacy and protection as we face a world where digital information impacts every aspect of our lives. Learn more here: https://kinder.rice.edu/events/rice-university-symposium-data-privacy

EDUCAUSE Live! Webinar: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 1 to 2 p.m. EST 
Artificial Intelligence in Education: Legal Considerations and Ethical Questions – Learn how schools can use artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to promote student success, improve retention, and better manage resources. Discover the benefits and limitations of these emerging technologies, legal obligations related to privacy, data protection, equal protection, and discrimination law, as well as ethical questions raised by the use of AI tools in education. Understand best practices and sample policies to guide school procurement, implementation, and oversight of machine-learning systems. Learn more here: https://events.educause.edu/educause-live/webinars/2019/artificial-intelligence-in-education-legal-considerations-and-ethical-questions  

About Data Privacy Day
Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe and is officially led by NCSA in North America. Verizon and Visa are Contributing Sponsors of the 2019 privacy awareness campaign. VISA and Verizon are Contributing Sponsors of the 2019 privacy awareness campaign. Yubico, Mozilla and Trend Micro are Participating Sponsors. The hashtag for NCSA's privacy campaign efforts is #PrivacyAware.

About the National Cyber Security Alliance  
NCSA is the nation's leading nonprofit, public-private partnership promoting cybersecurity and privacy education and awareness. NCSA works with a broad array of stakeholders in government, industry and civil society. NCSA's primary partners are DHS and NCSA's Board of Directors, which includes representatives from ADP; Bank of America; CDK Global, LLC; CertNexus; Cisco; Cofense; Comcast Corporation; ESET North America; Facebook; Google; InfoSec Institute; Intel Corporation; Marriott International; Mastercard; Microsoft Corporation; Mimecast; NXP Semiconductors; Raytheon; Salesforce; Symantec Corporation; Visa and Wells Fargo. NCSA's core efforts include National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (October); Data Privacy Day (Jan. 28); STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™, the global online safety awareness and education campaign co-founded by NCSA and the Anti-Phishing Working Group with federal government leadership from DHS; and CyberSecure My Business™, which offers webinars, web resources and workshops to help businesses be resistant to and resilient from cyberattacks. For more information on NCSA, please visit staysafeonline.org/about-us/overview/.  

SOURCE National Cyber Security Alliance

Related Links

http://www.staysafeonline.org