Trends To Watch out for Data Privacy and Cybersecurity in 2022
Data privacy had been monumental for the past two years. Consumers are gaining more and more control over their personal data. With Google phasing out third-party cookies and Apple giving iPhone users the option of allowing apps to track them for targeted ads.
And it’s only the beginning, as the consumer movement for data privacy rights is gaining traction. A 2018 complaint by “La Quadrature du Net,” was the basis for an investigation against Amazon, which resulted in a record-breaking penalty of $887 million.
With the third anniversary of the GDPR’s implementation last year, this became a game-changing moment that defined users’ data as a personal asset that they own and have rights to. Since then, a slew of new privacy laws has been enacted all over the world, radically altering the internet’s future — seemingly forever.
Given the broad global adoption of data privacy and security laws and regulations, it is unfathomable that enterprise leaders and policymakers alike will be complacent or adopt a “wait-and-see” approach to implementation.
In fact, there are 1,942 laws in force today (according to the World Privacy Forum) with 1,082 more data protection laws passed between them. The average cost for each of these laws for affected companies is $4.8 million per law, according to the same research. Which does not include fines from regulatory bodies such as the US Federal Trade Commission.
So, what’s in store for data and privacy in 2022? Let’s deep dive at the top data privacy trends for 2022 and how to leverage them.
TREND 1: Consumers will demand more control over their data
Privacy and data issues are much more of a hot topic now than they were previously. People are being shown how much data is collected through their smartphones, including tagged locations, purchases, and more, by social media campaigners and documentaries.
Even if there are no legal requirements, make it simple for customers to access or delete their data. To put it another way, simply honoring users’ requests will boost brand trust and loyalty.
How to leverage it:
Consumers will look for companies they can trust and who do the right thing. So user experience and brand reputation should go beyond compliance. It’s fine if they periodically request data access or data erasure. Have the ace up the sleeves.
TREND 2: Digital footprints will be everywhere
The growing digital footprint of today’s digital world provides invaluable insights for identifying patterns, trends, and connections for fraud detection and cyber security.
However, this can also be a good opportunity for hackers to get information from encrypted servers and use it against persons, brands, or businesses in the form of social engineering attacks or ransomware.
How to leverage it:
Protect personal and business brands by following these steps on protecting digital footprint:
- Limit the types of data you share.
- Don’t enter personal data on public Wi-Fi.
- Delete old accounts.
- Don’t log in with Facebook.
- Use an identity protection service.
- Limit sharing on social media.
- Always update software.
- Act fast after a breach.
Trend 3: It will be more important than ever to provide ongoing value.
In 2022, the total number of data breaches will be higher than in 2020. There will be even more in the following year. Hundreds of digital traces, bits of information about them that are stored and collected, are left behind by consumers. These digital footprints can be used against them (in the event of a data breach or other occurrences) and force them to pay a much higher price than they originally agreed to.
As a result, a growing number of people are asking themselves, “Is it worth it for me?” or “Is the benefit I’m getting worth the risk of a data breach?” ”.
If they know their personal information is safe — and the value they receive is worth the risk — more people will be willing to share it for goods and services as the value-based internet continues to evolve.
How to leverage it:
Earn the trust of customers by only collecting the information that is absolutely necessary, justifying any information that must be collected, and ensuring that the data minimization and retention policies are still relevant in 2022. Explain why it was needed to collect their data in order to run the service and how they will benefit from it.
Trend 4: The use of privacy-as-a-service services is on the rise
Many people are unsure of how to approach companies and how to send a GDPR request to the correct address. However, there are now many tools that have emerged to assist people in using AI to protect their personal information.
And the same is true for businesses: because they allow you to handle data privacy requests at a large scale, privacy platforms are now a critical component of a company’s growth and success. The ability of these privacy platforms to automate the entire fulfillment process without the need for human intervention has evolved (and risk of human errors). These platforms may also be configured with no-code solutions in some cases.
How to leverage it:
Consider deploying a Platform as a service (PaaS). With resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, and cloud-enabled enterprise applications.
PaaS is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud. You pay-as-you-go for the resources you need from a cloud service provider and use a secure Internet connection to access them.
Trend 5: Requests for privacy information will be processed in a shorter period of time
Not only from a compliance standpoint but also from a public perception standpoint, the timeliness of compliance responsibility will be judged by the general public in 2022.
Customers who are waiting for a response are posting complaints on social media sites on a regular basis. It’s easy to see how this frustrates users and the general public. Nothing is more frustrating than submitting a request for data privacy and then waiting months for it to be noticed.
How to leverage it:
It’s critical to have a centralized PrivacyOps platform with automation that allows you to quickly respond to user requests. Choose the right platform and rest assured that all incoming requests will be handled quickly and automatically.
Moving forward
This 2022, government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may issue lawsuits and fines to businesses that do not take steps to protect customer data. But, more importantly, businesses are subjected to public scrutiny, which can be particularly damaging.
Data breaches will continue to occur. But we’ll see a shift in how businesses respond to them. As well as how they handle consumer data in the first place.
We hope that with the trends and solutions we provided, you can start your data privacy initiatives before it’s too late.
