It’s January 28th which means it is Data Protection Day! This annual event aims to promote the awareness and importance of data protection and cyber threats. But what is Data Protection? Data protection is different to data security, which refers to protecting your company’s data by implementing the relevant security measures. Data protection is the practice of defending user privacy and data rights. It is important to know what information you are sharing, when you are sharing it and with whom.

Data protection is increasingly important as technology continues to advance. You may not think that you have any personal data that would be of interest to cybercriminals; but the truth is your name, address and date of birth are enough for them to steal your identity.

How can I make sure my business complies with GDPR?

If you are a business, it is important that you have the required policies in place for all staff members so they are aware of how to handle company information or any sensitive, personal data, such as customer contact information. It is also a good idea to implement a system whereby users can report concerns over the use of their data and suggest changes on a confidential basis. They may be able to identify security risks that you were not even aware of. All companies are entitled to one free Data Protection Officer under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) so take advantage of this.

How can I protect my personal data?

There are a number of steps you can take to help safeguard yourself. First of all, it’s important to understand how much information companies have about you and what kind of information they store. If you have been using an online service for quite some time now then most likely it has a list of all your previous purchases, the websites that you have visited and other similar information. You should be wary of companies that ask for your personal details when they don’t really need this kind of information; in many cases, these businesses collect your personal data in order to later resell them to others.

5 ways to protect your data from cybercriminals:

1. Use a VPN to anonymise your traffic online.
2. If you send any kind of sensitive information over the internet, make sure you do it via encrypted channels.
3. Keep your firewall at maximum strength and check for software updates frequently.
4. Don’t use the same password on every website and change it regularly
5. Be cautious about what kind of information you share online. Look at who is asking for your data and if the request seems suspicious, just refuse to provide it.

It is so easy to share information online and there is even a chance that you have shared some of it without being aware. You may not think that what you post or share on social media can cause any harm but the truth is that you never know where this information could end up.

So as you can see, Data Protection Day is a day that we should all acknowledge because it reminds us not to take our data for granted and to start taking steps towards securing it.

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