Privacy protection is no idealistic luxury, but the basis for successful online service provision
Is the protection of sensitive data being taken seriously enough?
"We will have to overcome privacy concerns. In many countries in the world, privacy was a showstopper for all that infrastructure that you need. You need data when fighting a pandemic, to make care available to everybody," argued Philips CEO Frans van Houten at the World Economic Forum in January. In the same week, Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge's response to a major health service data breach was greeted with considerable surprise by security experts. According to De Jonge, the relevant systems and processes had been thoroughly tested. Yet experts said that they didn't even meet basic information security standards. So, is the protection of sensitive data being taken seriously enough? And why does it matter?
Dutch people want more control of their personal data
Not long ago, the Privacy Monitor of the Data Driven Marketing Association indicated that 95 per cent of Dutch people want more control of their personal data. However, that's not the only reason why the business community and the state should be making privacy protection a much higher priority.
Accelerating the digital transformation
As well as turning the world upside down, the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digital transformation, and with it the debate on personal data protection. With online activities growing and digitisation extending throughout everyday life, businesses and government bodies were already looking for secure ways of processing burgeoning volumes of user registrations and transactions. However, no one was ready for so many activities needing to be moved online almost overnight. From distance learning and online exams, to virtual meetings and medical consultations by video link... every day we are logging in to all sorts of systems and sharing huge amounts of personal data. Data whose loss is potentially very damaging. And the accelerated online transition has made it uncomfortably clear that many organisations are not adequately prioritising privacy protection, and lack the know-how to realise such protection efficiently. Since the pandemic took hold, sensitive data about millions of people has fallen into the hands of criminals.
Growing social risk
In 2019, the global cost of identity fraud was $16.9 billion. And the implications for many of the victims and businesses concerned were serious: acute and often substantial financial losses, plus potentially lasting reputational damage. That's reflected in the way that insurers have started offering cybercrime cover not only to businesses, but also to consumers. While the availability of cover is welcome, insurance is not a solution to the underlying problem. It cannot address the growing social risk associated with more and more personal data falling into criminal hands. Therefore, however much sympathy we may have for those labouring to get new care systems up and running at breakneck speed, it isn't desirable to tackle one serious problem – the pandemic – in a way that creates another.
Privacy by design
In the present climate, it is vital to maintain public trust in online services. Now is therefore the time for businesses and governments to require vendors to provide privacy by design when realising new processes and systems. While that implies a change of outlook, the potential benefits are considerable.
Minimising personal data processing
Big data has become a buzzword in recent decades. However, when the data concerned is sensitive, the focus should really be on strict data ethics. The point being that, if an organisation sets itself the goal of keeping the processing of personal data to the absolute minimum, far fewer processes and far less data require protection. Embracing that principle inevitably leads to efficient solutions that optimise privacy protection, improve the customer experience and relieve the organisation of the need to manage a surfeit of critical data. The solutions are out there for those that are minded to look.
Leading the way
The Netherlands is at the forefront of the global drive for digitisation. However, we cannot retain our leading role unless we give privacy protection the priority it deserves. Personal data breaches cause enormous damage and dangerously undermine public trust in online services. The very trust on which our economy depends and on which our prosperity will need to be rebuilt.
