Data Privacy Day 2022 

Did you know today (Jan 28) was Data Privacy Day (DPD)? We can’t blame you if you didn’t. You may even be wondering why there’s a designated day for data privacy. Rather than commemorating a certain day or celebrating a certain event, DPD is all about starting conversations around data privacy, advocating for better data protection practices, and raising awareness around issues related to personal and corporate data. In honor of Data Protection Day, we’re sharing a few different ways you can celebrate by protecting your data.

Why is Data Privacy Day Celebrated?

There are three overarching aims for Data Privacy Day:

• To raise awareness around data privacy and start critical conversations around related themes
• To share best data privacy practices and principles
• To educate about the importance of data privacy and safeguarding your personal/corporate information

It’s not just about big corporations. Data Privacy Day is an initiative to raise awarness about the risks associated with both corporate and personal data. In actual fact, it’s often the individuals and market consumers who know the least about how to protect their data, especially when it comes to how they share their information online.

Why is Data Privacy Important

In this fast-paced digital world, it can be easy to become desensitized to just how much data we’re exchanging, sharing and processing every minute. Data is so intimately woven into our everyday lives that whether you’re at work, scrolling social media, or internet shopping, your data is up for grabs.

It seems funny, then, that very few individuals actually know about data privacy, let alone take measures to safeguard their own data. Although in a professional context, data privacy and security practices are arguably far more robust and commonplace, many corporations still need to up their game when it comes to protecting their data, including understanding the importance of IT asset discovery.

Why is Data Privacy Day on January 28th?

January 28th was chosen because it’s also the day that The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data was opened for signing by the European Council back in 1981.

This Convention was the first international agreement that acknowledged that personal data should and must be protected. It codified rules relating to data protection and set an international benchmark, whilst also signalling that the international community takes data seriously.

In 2018, the Convention was amended to reflect digital and technological advancements that have affected data protection.

How to protect your data & celebrate data privacy day

If you’re looking to embrace Data Privacy Day’s mission, here are a few ways you can start to protect your data privacy:

For individuals:

# Inform yourself about why Data Privacy is important
# Take a moment to think about how every one of your online interactions is generating data
# Take steps to limit the amount of data you share
# Check in with your privacy settings on your social media accounts
# Implement data protection strategies by reinforcing your data security. This means strengthening your passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication

For organizations & companies:

# Consider how you use and collect data from third-party users
# Use Data Privacy Day as an opportunity to educate your employees and spread organization-wide awareness about data privacy
# Assess your organisation’s data security plan
# Take a look at your emergency protocols & prepare for data breaches

Whether you choose to actively celebrate Data Privacy Day or not, the message behind the initiative is important. Data Privacy in both a professional and individual context is becoming an increasingly important issue that goes beyond simple awareness. Mitigation against data privacy breaches as well as implementing best practices in our everyday data exchanges is essential to keep our information safe. Just a little food for thought for this year’s Data Privacy Day.