What Is The Purpose Of Data Privacy?

Social media platforms, websites and mobile applications often collect and store large amounts of user data. In most cases, the intent is to use this information to provide better service.

The ever-growing volume of collected data has elevated the importance of data privacy and the need to protect user data.

This article will talk about the benefits of data privacy and why it’s essential. But first, let’s discuss what data privacy actually is. 

Click here to find out how the Data Protection Act (DPA) protects companies.

What Is Data Privacy? 

Data privacy is the ability of individuals to determine how, when and to what extent their personally identifiable information (PII) gets shared with others. PII includes names, contact information, locations, social security numbers, bank details, etc. 

It’s easy to confuse data privacy with data security. You might mistakenly believe that simply securing sensitive user data against threats like hacking is what data privacy is all about. But that’s not the entire story.

Data security is one aspect of data privacy but it’s not where data privacy ends. Data privacy is about being transparent with customers about how you use their data. And data security is about ensuring user data does not fall into the hands of unauthorized individuals.

For example, imagine that you sell user data to an advertising company without permission from your customers. In this case, you’ve violated data privacy principles but not data security. 

Imagine that your customer data becomes the target of a hacking attack because you failed to use the latest data security technology. This is a violation of both data privacy and data security.

What Is The Purpose Of Data Privacy? 

Data privacy aims to safeguard your customers’ fundamental right to privacy and comply with data regulatory laws. A comprehensive data privacy policy is also a great way to gain users’ trust and build a good relationship.

Let’s discuss these in detail now. 

Asset Management By Businesses

In this era of rapid digitization, data is perhaps the most coveted asset a business can own. Companies use information about their customers to keep innovating and improving their products. But customers only share personal data and allow businesses to store it when there is trust between the two parties.

Having a data privacy policy helps businesses gain this trust by demonstrating professionalism and expertise in handling sensitive data.

A good privacy policy takes the following things into account:

• It allows users to choose the data they want to share.
• It is clear about what data is collected and its intended use.
• It maintains shared data confidentiality.
• It protects data from any unauthorized third-party access.

Regulatory Compliance  

Self-benefit isn’t the only reason companies protect customer information. Managing data to meet legal requirements is also a critical aspect of data privacy. 

Any non-compliance with privacy regulations can lead to harmful outcomes for both parties. Companies can face huge fines, lose customer trust and face serious legal action that can ultimately lead to the shutdown of the business. 

Additionally, non-compliance can lead to customers receiving unwanted advertisements and becoming a target of financial scams and identity theft. 

These reasons are just a few of the many that underscore the need to comply with privacy regulations. In addition, the DPA protects companies and their customers from a significant amount of harm.

Protection Of Basic Human Rights

Privacy is the right of an individual or a group to be left alone. It’s also about the ability of people to protect information about themselves and only share what they want. Thus, controlling how someone’s private information is collected and shared comes under the right to privacy. 

Data privacy ensures that your customers’ right to privacy isn’t violated by anyone on the Internet.

Now You Understand Data Privacy

Remember, data privacy and data security are not the same. Data privacy is about how your company collects and processes user data. On the other hand, data security is about how you secure customer data against external threats such as a hacking attempt.

It’s also important to remember that strict laws regulate data privacy in many regions. If you aren’t careful, you could face severe legal action and lose the trust of your customers.

Finally, data privacy is as vital for customers as it is for a company. In case of a breach, your customers might become vulnerable to financial scams and identity theft.