Thursday, January 28, 2010

Today is Data Privacy Day

Maybe, you didn't know that today is Data Privacy Day. I didn't know before, but it is an important day. With more and more data created, especially personal and behavioral data, it's important to think about how and where YOUR data is handled and by whom. When I sign up for a service or order something online, I usually take at least a quick look at the fineprint in the terms & conditions. The same is true when I sign papers (and I have been annoying people for taking my time to read the fineprint).

What do you do? Do you look at how companies handle your data (or at least what they promise they will do)? Do you let companies know when you are concerned with their policies? If you are in data management (and most of my readers seem to be), how do you treat the data you are in charge of? How is your company handling data?

I tell students that data and information is one of a company's most valuable assets. And that's how you have to treat it. Customers trust a business partner to treat the data with care and that's some trust that can be lost very quickly if policies are violated or changed to the worse, if companies do not invest in their employees and the right technologies.

BTW: The only way for me to identify who is reading my blog is through you posting comments and leaving your name.