Rapidly progressive technology is giving impetus to viruses, bugs, and malware that can steal our data, derail business reputation, or, worse, cause severe financial disruptions.
To avoid these challenges, many legislative laws and best practices are recommended that will improve data security and provide protection against threats. It is where the intersection of technology and privacy law comes into practice.
The Intersection of Technology and Privacy Laws: Protecting Personal Data in a Digital Era
The intersection of technology and privacy law is a converging point where the user feels the need to stay updated with evolving technology without fearing the loss of data.
It is all about striking a balance between innovation and data security so that you can be at peace. For example, while online shopping, users want to have items purchased and paid for online while making sure the card details do not fall into authentic hands. This is where privacy law comes into play. It empowers us to embrace new technologies while safeguarding our information.
Why Privacy Laws Are Essential?
The need for this law arises from the fact that intruders have already gained access to our data, thereby causing massive financial losses. Have a look at this fact, as per Tech Report, around 2200 cyber attacks are launched daily; this equates to 800,000+ attacks each year. This staggering data emphasizes the need to stay vigilant when it comes to adopting new technologies. Below mentioned are more points to support the idea.
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Massive Data Collection
Have you ever noticed how those pesky unwanted real estate calls ring your phone often, even when you have not subscribed or requested it? Data marketing is the culprit. Here, the companies collect customer data without consent or any proper and transparent disclosure. This leads to information pilferage and privacy breaches, thereby, highlighting the need for technology and privacy laws that protect your information from mishandling.
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Cyber Thefts
The digital battlefield is becoming more intense than ever. The above-mentioned statistics about cyber pirates are not just numbers; they are snapshots of growing digital intrusion and illustrate how digital dragons can steal our data without even a hint. To safeguard our digital treasure, we need robust privacy laws with bundled features to ensure financial protection and peace of mind over anything else.
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Flawed AI
An undeniable fact is, the use of Artificial Learning (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has disorganized the world to a great extent. While it may have a lot to give in its kitty, do you know flawed AI systems can derail your organizational data and cost you in terms of huge financial and data loss? Don’t believe it! A considerable thing here is, many applications lack the measures needed to facilitate robust security. This leads to unauthorized sensitive data leakage, resulting in privacy breaches and considerable financial losses. Mismanaged AI projects can further cause financial penalties, fines, and loss of customer reliability, as well as harm the organizational reputation, thereby causing loss of customers.
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IOT
The IoT – Internet of Things market is already exploding due to its apparent benefits. According to the projection, it is believed that India’s IoT market growth is anticipated to increase by 16.56% from 2024 to 2029. However, this expansion comes with challenges and leads to unauthorized access to personal or sensitive business data. It can be a cause of concern for businesses, thereby making them vulnerable to cyberattacks and compromised operations. To secure yourself from the damage, there is a need for robust privacy laws that can navigate your success.
All these factors suggest that privacy laws are quintessential because they ensure that individual rights are respected and that they are not misused.
What can you do to address these challenges while strengthening your business?
These initiatives create a balance between technological innovation and customer privacy. Most of all, they are necessary to maintain our digital interactions. Here are some of them:
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Legislative Initiatives
Different governments are actively working on creating protection laws to address the challenges. For instance, the Indian Government’s ‘Personal Data Protection Bill’ aims to safeguard data amidst rapid digitization. Under this law, it has been made compulsory for the organization to obtain consent from the customers before collecting and selling their data. They have to mention the purpose of data collection and how it will be used.
The bill also mandates how certain kinds of data, especially sensitive information, will be stored, thus ensuring security and privacy.
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Encryption
Encryption is an advanced technological measure that protects the client’s sensitive data by making it unreadable. This data can only be read by authorized parties with the correct decryption key. There are many kinds of encryption technologies available, out of which the most famous are symmetric and asymmetric encryption. These technologies are highly useful in online banking, payment gateways, cloud storage service providers, etc.
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Two Factor Authentication
Whether it is your social media account or online credit card payment, two-factor authentication technology has become a bliss. The process requires the owner to review the payment twice before granting approval to the system. It creates an extra layer of security, thereby making it difficult for unauthorized people to gain access to sensitive information. It can be SMS, app, email-based, or biometric. However, two-factor authentication needs to be periodically updated to ensure your recovery settings remain secure.
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Employee Training
Effective employee training on maintaining data confidentiality helps to protect it from intruders. It ensures legal compliance and fosters a culture of security and reliability in the organization. You can educate them about privacy laws, types of data, how to handle it, and transfer and access controls. Phishing training should also be accompanied by tactics on how to prevent it. Establish a clear procedure for reporting data incidents or any fraudulent activity, and organize training sessions and workshops. It will help them safeguard against data breaches.
Bottom Line
The intersection of technology and privacy laws is an intervention that improves your security and helps you stay compliant, even while changing conditions. It will minimize breaches, keep your data intact, and thus give you peace of mind. As we navigate towards a technologically evolving world, being informed and proactive towards digital scams and frauds will help us safeguard our digital interactions.
Author Bio
Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, Cloud & AWS savvy, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz Technologies. His 12+ years of experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on IoT and SaaS applications.
