You've probably heard the expression "data is the new oil." Well, data today is fueling an increasing number of businesses. Personalized customer experiences, automated marketing messaging, and science-driven insights all depend on the quality and volume of your information. Companies are eager to gather data, and understandably so. Legislators, on the other hand, are keen to protect the privacy and safety of individuals.

What is Data Privacy?

"Data privacy" usually refers to the handling of critical personal information, also called "personally identifiable information" (PII) and "personal health information" (PHI). This information can include social security numbers, health records, and financial data, including bank account and credit card numbers. In a business context, data privacy goes beyond the PII of employees and customers. Data privacy also concerns the information that helps the company operate. This could involve things like proprietary research, development data, or financial information.

The Importance of Data Privacy

Keeping private data and sensitive information safe is paramount. If items like financial data, healthcare information, and other personal consumer or user data get into the wrong hands, it can create a dangerous situation. The lack of access control regarding personal information can put individuals at risk for fraud and identity theft. Additionally, a data breach at the government level may risk the security of entire countries. And if one occurs within your company, it could make your proprietary data accessible to a competitor.

Data Privacy vs. Data Security

Companies may use the terms "data privacy" and "data security" interchangeably, but they're not the same thing. Data privacy is a branch of data security mainly concerned with the handling of data. It revolves around matters such as consent, data collection, and regulatory compliance.

Data Security concentrates on keeping data safe from attacks from hackers. It refers to the processes and actions that protect data from unauthorized access and corruption throughout the data life cycle. The threat of malicious hacking can be external or internal. An IT team may use a wide arsenal of tactics, such as encryption, tokenization, hashing, and other practices, to protect data across applications and platforms.

Data Breaches and Sensitive Data

A data breach is an intentional or unintentional release of confidential data that exposes it to an untrusted environment. Other common terms for this include "unintentional information disclosure," "information leakage," "data leak" and "data spill." Data breaches can occur in a variety of ways and contexts, from malicious attacks by criminal hackers, political activists, or foreign governments, to careless processing when disposing of computer equipment or other data storage media.