Data privacy vs data security: introduction
Data security and data privacy are different concepts that frequently get confused. However, data privacy and data security are not the same terms.
Data privacy is about the proper usage, collection, retention, deletion and storage of data. Data security combines policies, methods and means to secure personal data.
Data privacy involves people’s rights to control who views their personal information, while data security protects information from unauthorised use, access and disclosure, and guards against data breaches.
Data privacy and data security are both essential in protecting sensitive information such as people’s identities, addresses, financial details and health records.
Data privacy and data security similarities
Both aim to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access and misuse, such as data breaches.
Both are governed by laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation, that require organisations to implement measures to protect data.
Both involve identifying risks to data and strategies for data protection.
Data privacy and data security differences
Data privacy is concerned with the rights of individuals regarding their personal information and focuses on how data is collected, processed, shared and stored.
Data security is concerned with protecting data from threats such as breaches, theft and damage, and focuses on technical measures to protect data.
Data privacy is often the responsibility of legal and compliance teams, as it involves implementing legal requirements and policies related to personal data.
Data security is typically the responsibility of IT and security teams, as it involves implementing technical controls for data protection and defences against cyber threats.
Data privacy and security covered separately in regional regulations
It is important to understand prevailing laws, regulations and guidelines that are in place to protect people’s privacy and data.
In the UK and Europe, the most widespread regulations are the General Data Protection Regulations, administered by the ICO, and EU GDPR.
The ICO’s advice on data security incudes a description of the ‘security principle’, which states that you must process personal data securely by means of ‘appropriate technical and organisational measures.’
Every country and region around the world have laws and issues advice about how to comply with both security and privacy mandates. For example, the USA has country-wide and many state regulations.
It is important to know the law in your region as breaches of either security or privacy regulations can lead to fines, law suits or censure, and damage your reputation.
Data privacy vs Data security summaries
Data privacy in brief
Data privacy refers to the appropriate handling, use and protection of individuals' personal information and sensitive data.
Data privacy involves ensuring that individuals have control over how their personal data is collected, processed, stored, and shared.
Data privacy laws, regulations, and standards, such as GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and HIPPA, govern the collection and use of personal data and are intended to protect individuals' privacy rights.
Compliance with data privacy regulations often involves obtaining consent for data collection, providing transparency about data processing activities, allowing individuals to access and correct their data, and implementing measures to safeguard personal information from unauthorised access and misuse.
Data security in brief
Data security focuses on protecting data from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction, regardless of whether the data is personal or not.
Data security encompasses various technologies, processes and practices designed to protect data and ensure its confidentiality, integrity and availability.
Data security measures include encryption, access controls, authentication mechanisms, firewalls, intrusion detection systems and regular security audits.
While data privacy primarily concerns the protection of personal information, data security extends to all types of data, including business-sensitive information, intellectual property and other confidential data.
Data privacy primarily deals with the ethical and legal considerations surrounding the collection and use of personal data, and focuses on individuals' privacy rights; while data security involves the technical and procedural measures implemented to protect all types of data from unauthorised access or other security threats.
Data privacy and data security often intersect in practice, as protecting individuals' privacy requires robust data security measures. In other words, data security is a prerequisite for ensuring data privacy.
Key takeaways for Data Controllers
Clearly communicate with people why and how their personal data is used.
Transparency is a core principle of data privacy regulations.
Know what data is collected, and how it is being used and shared.
Delete data when it is no longer needed.
As data fuels today’s digital economy, the rules around privacy and security set the parameters for business models.
Best practices for ensuring data security
Ensuring data security involves a combination of policies, practices and technologies to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access, breaches and other threats.
Here are some best practices for ensuring data security:
Encrypting data at rest and in transit to protect it from unauthorised access.
Access control to ensure that only authorised users can access sensitive data.
Regular software updates to protect against vulnerabilities.
Use of automated tools to manage compliance.
Security awareness training to educate employees about security best practices.
Incident response plans to identify, contain and mitigate security incidents.
Use of anonymisation techniques to protect personal data.
Sharing data compliantly
Data privacy and data security best practices dictate that people’s personal data be redacted (anonymised, masked or removed) when data is shared with third parties, for example when fulfilling a subject access request.
Facit helps organisations worldwide to comply with privacy regulations by automating the removal of personal data from both video footage and all types of documents so that they can be shared compliantly.
We would be pleased to discuss your data privacy and security challenges.
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