6 Tips for Building a Data Privacy Culture

Given the expanding threat landscape, security professionals may think that the public at large doesn't have a good grip on what counts as sensitive information.

But MediaPro's 2018 Eye On Privacy Report shows that the industry has made some progress.

For example, 89% of US employees rank Social Security numbers as most sensitive on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most sensitive. And another 76% rank credit card information as most sensitive.

Other evidence that employees are more aware than in the past: 87% chose to correctly store a project proposal for a new client and design specifications for a new product in a locked drawer. And nearly three-quarters of all respondents chose to either destroy an old password hint and an ex-employee’s tax form from three decades ago in a secure shredder.

"While we've made progress, I have to wonder about the 11% who didn't rate a Social Security number as most sensitive," says Tom Pendergast, chief strategist for security, privacy and compliance at MediaPro. "It would seem to me that the Equifax case from last year would have sufficiently alarmed people."

In honor of Data Privacy Day on January 28, here are key steps for creating a corporate culture of data privacy, based on interviews with MediaPro’s Pendergast and Russell Schrader, the new executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance.