From the course: Creating a Culture of Privacy

Making privacy everyone's job

From the course: Creating a Culture of Privacy

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Making privacy everyone's job

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- Privacy is often thought of as something the legal or compliance folks should handle. So often, you have companies with great privacy policies and strong privacy teams, but when you ask a random employee about privacy their response is more often then not, I don't touch any crucial data. It's not part of my job. A response like that is a sign, that while your company may have great policies in place, it does not have a culture of privacy. So how do you get employees in marketing, sales, finance and other teams, who don't deal with privacy on a daily basis, to understand the issue and their responsibilities? Sometimes it helps to put people in the shoes of your customers. And what I mean is, get employees to think about their own data and how vulnerable it might be in the hands of strangers. Help employees see how much data is out there about them and how many different companies have access to that data. How would they want those companies to handle their most trusted data? Make the connection for your employees, tell them that they are responsible for the data your customers choose to entrust in your company. Explain that they are the guardians of your customer's data and they should treat that data with as much care as they would hope someone at another company would use, with their data, or the data of your loved ones. Now maybe, you were asking yourself, what is the benefit of all this? How do I sell my executive team on the idea that we need everyone in the company to feel a sense of responsibility for privacy? Well first, keep in mind that employees who understand your company's approach to privacy will be an ambassador for the company, when a friend or family member raises concerns. You want them telling their friends, you don't need to worry about sharing that data with our company, we respect our customers' privacy. Let me tell you more. A statement like that is music to my ears and should be music to your ears, too. Second, privacy violations often happen because employees are not aware of the company's commitments around privacy, or think that the privacy rules don't apply to them. A salesperson choosing to send an email with all of your customers' addresses in the To line, could result in serious fines in some countries. Someone storing employee data on a laptop that is not encrypted, could be the cause of your company's next data breach. Third, there is a pride that employees have in knowing they work for a company that is doing the right thing. You will find your ability to attract and retain talent on your security and engineering team strengthen by your company's commitment to collect and use costumer data in a way that is respectful of privacy. A culture of privacy will not survive without employees who understand the principles behind it, and integrate those principles into their approach to their job. That's why a key component of building a strong privacy program is getting every employee to think and act like privacy is a key part of their job.

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