How to Protect the Personal Data That Goes Into Your Digital Business

how to protect the personal data

We live in a period where it is impossible to go more than an entire week without reading a story about hacks or data breaches that expose millions millions of personal records to hackers. People are seeking ways to protect their information online.

However, it’s essential to understand how to safeguard the personal data that you input into your digital business in order to comply with your legal obligations and protect the privacy of your customers. Here are some tips to help.

1. Identify Personal Data

As defined by the laws on data protection as personal data, it is information that identifies or can be used to identify an individual. In the digital world this can cover various things from names to email addresses to biometric information. However, many data that could be considered to be personal is not included in the personal data category when there are certain qualifying circumstances. For instance, if an organisation collects various types of information about individuals and they’re all asked to state their occupation it’s probably not personal data because it can’t be used to identify a specific person.

Many companies are required by law to restrict the amount of personal information they collect, and it’s generally a good thing as it can reduce the likelihood of a data breach. Additionally, the majority of lawful data protection regulations require an increased level of security for sensitive personal data as compared to normal personal data. This is because a breach can have more damaging effects or consequences for the data subject.