Online privacy protection has become a global initiative. Throughout every industry and sector of the online world, there is increasing attention being given to the protection of digital privacy. A combination of factors, including legal, ethical, strategic, and technological have increased that attention.
Ultimately, businesses and other organizations that have a presence on the World Wide Web, like associations or government entities, are responsible for safeguarding the digital privacy of their employees, customers, and business partners.
Privacy by Design
While we believe that respect for privacy has always been an important social norm and reputable business expectation, online privacy practices have certainly evolved at an unprecedented pace in the past few years. Today’s businesses have grown attentively mindful of legal compliance obligations. Beyond that, digital privacy protection has also grown into a marketing and brand satisfaction imperative. If you have not already, it is time for your teams to be prioritizing “Privacy by Design (PbD).”
Proactive businesses are now including comprehensive plans for digital privacy protection into all aspects of business design. From conceptualizing organizational initiatives to executing priority objectives, processes, and ongoing management, privacy has become a foundational element in successful design of business operations.
Digital data privacy requires interdisciplinary design thinking. From network security, data systems, platforms, and technologies to day-to-day processes, access permissions, and operations, Privacy by Design is a collective business effort.
Best practices for PbD include specification of purpose, collection limitation, and disclosure of use and retention. For each of these, specific expectations are guided by laws that are geographically applicable to businesses and their market reach.
Three Pillars of Privacy Protection
Partnering in high-performance digital solution development with hundreds of high-profile clients each year, Americaneagle.com has built a strong understanding of the laws and expectations of privacy protection, as well as the best practices to maximize security and limit privacy risk. A wide range of experiences have identified three consistent and essential pillars that help our client teams support ongoing success with digital privacy protection.
- Legal: Informs what we SHOULD do
- Technical: Informs what we CAN do
- Management: Balances legal and technical, directing what we WILL do
Businesses should develop an internal team to own privacy initiatives and serve as a governance board. Professionals leading each of the three pillars of digital privacy protection should be actively engaged in governance. To achieve the best results for the entity and their relationships, these professionals need to have the authority to prioritize these efforts and have a strong understanding of its operational importance.
Pillar 1: Legal Contributions to Digital Privacy Protection – What We SHOULD Do
Whether a business or other entity employs a full-time legal counsel or maintains outside legal representation, the legal considerations and quick-evolving expectations of digital privacy protection often requires specialized attorney participation. Once a business establishes the right legal professional(s) to carry the torch for the continued advancement of digital privacy, an initial discovery and ongoing legal reporting cadence should be established with both the multidisciplined governance board and designated executive leadership.
No legal counsel is able to completely eliminate business risk. When it comes to digital privacy protection, however, there is much that can be done to mitigate risk to a high level of effectiveness via education, assessment, oversight, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Key considerations include:
- Privacy Policy & Terms of Service
- Cookie Compliance
- Data Use and Security Measures
- Opt-Out Mechanisms
- Geographic Restrictions or Customization
- Ecommerce Regulations
- Disclaimers & Limitations of Liability (where legally permissible)
Pillar 2: Technical Contributions to Digital Privacy Protection – What We CAN Do
Internal teams should schedule a periodic assessment of the data lifecycle: how data is collected, to whom it’s disclosed, how it’s stored, how long it’s kept, and how it’s disposed of or anonymized. This team, or technology working group within the privacy team, should have the pulse on existing business technology, be at the forefront of considering new tech stack components, and routinely prioritize guidance from established privacy law authorities.
An experienced agency like Americaneagle.com can be an immediately impactful business partner in the consideration of best practices for technology. The capabilities within existing and potential tech stack components of business is often complex. Even the highest performing and attentive IT departments can benefit from a collaborative partner to help assess, implement, and train across data and technology assets.
Key considerations include:
- Security Infrastructure
- Access Controls
- Authentication Systems
- Software Updates
- Monitoring and Testing Systems
- Payment Processing Security
- Data Storage and Retention
- Code Development Best Practices
Pillar 3: Management Contributions to Digital Privacy Protection – What We WILL Do
Consistently balancing the legal team’s advice and the technical team’s resources, the management team is essential to chart the ongoing course toward an entity’s digital privacy protection. While representation from the highest-ranking executive who can prioritize this effort is recommended, there are other specific department leaders who are also important professionals to include.
The human resources department has privacy considerations relating to employee and applicant data, the ways it is collected, stored, and accessed.
The marketing team also maintains relationships with customers, prospective customers, business partners, third-party services, and others for which data is collected, stored, and accessed.
Could other departments say the same about data collection, storage, and access? Absolutely! While it is not essential that every department be represented on the governance board for digital privacy protection, it is important that every department is included in regularly scheduled assessments.
Key considerations include:
- Risk Assessment Process
- Clear Accountability
- Professional Training
- Incident Response Plan
- Vendor Management
- Audit Cadence and Continuous Improvement
- Budget Allocation and Insurance Coverage
Supported by the three pillars of digital privacy protection, today’s leading businesses are confidently implementing and maintaining Privacy by Design.
Implementing and Maintaining Privacy by Design
Privacy by Design is a proactive approach that embeds privacy into the design and operation of your business systems from the start. PbD promotes the anticipation of privacy issues before they occur rather than addressing them after problems arise.
Implementation of PbD begins with the establishment of a cross-functional team that meets regularly to prioritize, consider, and resolve privacy matters. This team must possess the knowledge, commitment, and authority to advance privacy practices for their business. The three pillars of effective privacy protection–legal, technical, and management–should be consistently involved in the original assessment, design, and implementation of a business’s PbD.
PbD is not a “set it and forget it” project. A cadence for continual attention to PbD assessment should be established by your business’s interdisciplinary team. Laws are changing. Business systems, technology, and processes are continually evolving. The team should agree on a cadence that is both achievable and sufficiently minimizes privacy risk.
With well-planned implementation and maintenance, Privacy by Design becomes not just a one-time achievement but an integral part of how your business operates, protecting both your customers and your organization.
Needing Help with the Three Pillars and PbD?
A pioneer in digital agency solutions and support, the strategy teams at Americaneagle.com have been a consistent partner in privacy considerations with a wide range of client businesses, industries, and geographic accountability. We welcome the opportunity to help you assess your current privacy standing and confidently plan PbD implementation and maintenance.
Contact Americaneagle.com today.
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