9
ISSUES: Privacy
Chapter 1: What is privacy?
Data Privacy Day: what it is and why we
need to be more aware
Data protection needs priority in our lives right now.
By Agamoni Ghosh
I
n the digital age, it becomes imperative for us to protect
our privacy, especially our personal data on devices and
social media sites. To raise awareness on the importance
of data protection, United States, Canada, India and 47
European countries are commemorating Data Privacy Day
on Saturday.
IBTimes UK tells you all you need know about the day:
When is it and why is it commemorated?
Marked as an international holiday, 28 January, is widely
recognised as Data Privacy Day or Data Protection Day to
raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection
practices.
History
The first ever legally-binding international treaty dealing
with privacy and data protection was the signing of
Convention 108 on 28 January, 1981 by the Council of
Europe. Years later, Data Privacy Day was initiated by the
Council in 2007. Two years later, in 2009 the United States
House of Representatives recognised National Data Privacy
Day and the United States Senate recognised Data Privacy
Day in 2010 and 2011.
It has continued through the efforts of various groups and
organisations since.
Some of the major participating organisations are:
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Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
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Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
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Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
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Identity Theft Council
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Anti-Phishing Working Group
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Cyber Data-Risk Managers
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EDUCAUSE.
Why should you care?
Cybersecurity is the biggest concern across all governments
right now, from people’s personal data being stolen to
financial institutions losing billions in cyber heists. CSO
(Central Statistics Office) estimates that cybercrime damage
costs will hit $6 trillion annually by 2021.
In UK, hacking attempts on businesses have grown rapidly
with insurance claims for data breach being made at a rate
of more than one per day. Various studies show businesses,
in particular, are mostly unaware of breaches that take place
and even when they do, it’s often too late. The Yahoo hack
is the best example, where personal credentials of over 1.5
billion people were accessed by suspected state-sponsored
hackers.
From your personal email account to the election ballot of
a country like the US, everything can be hacked. While it is
tough to fend off such huge attacks, on a personal level we
need to be aware. Passwords need to be stronger, public
WiFi usage needs to be limited and more money needs to
be spent on antivirus software. Microsoft estimates that by
2020, almost four billion people will be online, which makes
their data even more vulnerable.
28 January 2017
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The above information is reprinted with kind permission
from the
International Business Times
. Please visit www.
ibtimes.co.uk for further information.
© International Business Times 2017
