Right to Privacy:

Right to Privacy: Why This Is a Big Win for People and Security of Their Personal Data

“You can’t have privacy without security” Larry Page, Google’s CEO, famously said at a TED Conference, a few years ago.

Today, closer home, that rings true. 

A few months ago when Right to Privacy found its way into the Indian Constitution, it marked a great first step towards recognizing the increasing—and often neglected—need to strengthen security to protect data and privacy.

Never before has there been a clarion call to create a robust regime for data protection. That’s something the Supreme Court has demanded of Indian organizations and the government. I think that’s quite significant.

That presents a remarkable opportunity for Indian organizations to step up their security efforts, and at the same time, build a culture that upholds the need to protect customer data. 

It evidently means here’s a chance for Indian companies to create a solid framework and a strong cybersecurity policy that ensures data protection. That, in itself, is a big win for the privacy of personal data.

Much to Gain

In the age of social media and e-commerce, as data increasingly becomes a commodity, protecting this data also becomes an imperative.

Simply put, the more important data becomes, the more important are the tools to protect data.

And when customers are confident that their data is in safe hands, they are more than willing to part with it. For businesses, this is an indicator of customer trust, which boosts customer retention and new customer acquisition, leading to increased revenue.

Recently, Nasscom’s President R. Chandrashekhar said that the Supreme Court ruling significantly boosts India’s attractiveness as a safe destination for global sourcing which according to him is “another win”. As a growing digital economy, that’s great news for Indian businesses who can take advantage of increased customer confidence. 

Outside Indian shores, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires all businesses—across the world--collecting data of EU citizens to become fully accountable for protecting any data categorized as ‘personal.’ With the Right to Privacy ruling, Indian businesses that cater to the European market will feel a step closer to ensuring they comply with GDPR.

Protecting Customer Privacy

In order to preserve the essence of privacy, Indian organizations need to provide an increased sense of visibility and control over confidential customer data.

To do so, they need to first recognize and assess the hands that hold customer data: Your employees.

That means there needs to be an increased focus on the people who create, touch and move customer data. One way to do that is to turn to Behavioral Analytics. It helps organizations monitor how their employees are handling customer data and detect suspicious behaviour.

That’s even more pertinent now that customer data has become the lifeline of most organizations. Industries like telecom, financial and healthcare services, e-commerce firms and government agencies that collect a large amount of sensitive personal data will have to re-evaluate their data strategy.

They will have to provision for new norms that vow to protect customer data and privacy, first and foremost. The Right to Privacy ruling has opened new doors for businesses by providing an opportunity to strengthen security to protect privacy, and thereby gain customer confidence.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/y9bpsqlf