Notable scandals in 2020 have resulted in an increasing demand for a prominent data privacy framework. Implementing data privacy measures might cause confusion and disruption at first, but, eventually, it will lead to a safer digital landscape in 2021.
2020 has been a noteworthy year for data management. With businesses facing severe technological challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data privacy issues have spent some time in the spotlight. When companies started functioning online, customers showed more concern over data privacy. In response, data privacy could see some significant changes in 2021.
“In 2021, we will see some nasty public cloud breaches as criminals exploit risk and complexity that companies leave unaddressed,” says Brendan Hannigan, CEO of Sonrai Security.
“While S3 bucket exposures are easily preventable, they keep happening, and these problems are the tip of the iceberg. Cloud identity and data access misconfigurations represent a more vast and insidious risk, and criminals are wising up to this,” he adds.
As trends and ideas in data security evolve, some changes might get replaced while others will be accelerated. Businesses must be prepared for the upcoming changes to survive.
Global Data Privacy Environment to Will Intensify
People have become well aware of the importance of data privacy. They no longer tolerate businesses taking the privacy of their data for granted. In the years ahead, companies must put emphasis on the planning and execution in the areas of privacy, security, and identity management to guarantee the three non-negotiable goals of data privacy, safety, and reliability are achieved.
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Peter Jackson, CEO of Bluescape, says, “Consumers will increasingly demand that their data stays private and protected, but they won’t just take your word for it. They’ll need some proof, meaning that a black box policy isn’t going to cut it.
Organizations will need to provide a level of transparency that better communicates how they collect data and what they do with it. If not, consumers will increasingly advocate for their rights to privacy”.
“In fact, California voters recently passed an act that extended their privacy rights while making it more difficult for regulators to weaken privacy laws in the future, and Forrester predicts that regulatory and legal activity related to employee privacy will increase 100% in the coming year. Businesses that proactively advocate for data privacy will gain consumer trust,” he adds.
With the enforcement date of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching and new laws continuing to grow, businesses are reviewing their data practices. Ultimately, more countries are expected to join hands with international data privacy committees to keep a check on privacy issues.
Security to Become More Automated
In response to the growing expectations, organizations will have to do more to secure data. This could be solved with the help of data security automation.
With businesses changing the way they operate, cybersecurity will also have to become more flexible. Automating security processing using AI tools will allow companies to achieve flexibility. Even though when security AI still relatively new, it is predicted to take off on a large scale in 2021.
Demand for Transparency Will Increase
Governments are no longer the only ones that expect more privacy standards from tech companies. Since many had a bitter year, with multiple applications being banned by the government over security issues, people will also demand privacy and transparency.
To hold up data and trust, businesses need to ensure data transparency by openly communicating the data they collect and the purpose and uses. In 2021 companies that are transparent about their data usage are more likely to be successful.
Read More: Google Tops the List of the Biggest Data Breaches and GDPR Fines
Security Data Analytics will Become the Norm
Big data analytics has increasingly an integral part of all business decisions, and in 2021, more companies will start using data analytics to enhance their data privacy measures. Data analytics can help with operational improvements, assisting the companies to better their data security performance.
Major companies have experienced data breaches this year, and it has given the right signals to other companies to take care to not fall into the same traps.
Third-Party Risk Assessments will be More Critical
Now that consumers have become more specific about companies giving their data to third-party access, businesses will have to meet higher standards of data privacy.
Implementing data security processes may result in some initial confusion and disruption, but it will lead to a safer digital landscape.
