Data is an exceptionally significant business asset. In fact, some businesses even gain financial benefits by collecting and sharing data (legally and ethically) in today’s growing digital economy.
However, for businesses to secure early and successfully enjoy the benefit of the data they are gathering, they need to reinforce data safety measures such as security and privacy standards to ensure sensitive data is subject to uninvited surveillance.
As a business, you must also adhere to applicable data compliance standards.
Data privacy has evolved from ‘nice to have to an imperative business-standard
Apart from standard legal regulations, there are several reasons why enterprises need to consider data privacy seriously.
This blog will discuss the top 5 reasons to practice data privacy during your digital transformation journey.
Let’s get started!
Data breaches can cause significant damage to your business.
Data compliance isn’t just essential because sensitive data can be misused in the event of a data breach, but also, data privacy regulations are given immense importance across the globe.
Some most popular data privacy standards include GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA.
Enterprises failing to comply with these regulations can attract a fine of up to tens of millions of dollars and might even receive a 20-year operational penalty.
You also risk your intellectual property and trade secrets without following data compliance standards. Therefore, data privacy should be integral to IT test environment management.
Data privacy is pivotal to maintaining your market reputation and brand value.
A Forbes Insights report highlighted that 46% of enterprises endured devastating reputational damage and detrimental effect on brand value due to privacy breaches. Consumers will only trust and emotionally connect with brands that put the privacy of their consumers as their primary goal, thus translating into improved brand value.
Also Read: How to Create and Implement a Winning Software Release Plan?
Data Privacy goes a long way in earning customer trust and loyalty.
Research commissioned by Centrify highlights that 65% of individuals who became victims of personal data breaches lost trust in the business/vendors from where data was stolen (either directly or due to a breach in one of their third-party vendors).
In fact, one in four compromised customers preferred to opt for another organization for their required solution. Businesses not implementing privacy protections or paying attention to data compliance standards will subsequently experience breaches.
Consequently, your consumers will lose trust, ultimately leading to lower profits, unhappy customers, and fewer prospects.
Data privacy will deliver a competitive advantage.
Data privacy has evolved beyond merely checking the compliance box. They are now leveraged by businesses as strategic competitive advantages to raise the bar on brand trust with consumers.
According to the 2020 Consumer and Data Privacy Report published by Privitar, 43% of consumers said they don’t know if they’ve worked with a business impacted by a data breach.
This find clearly outlines how consumers are unaware of how brands/businesses are securing their personal data. With this, businesses have a phenomenal opportunity to make data privacy a differentiator and an avenue to gain long-term trust and loyalty.
Data privacy can influence innovation through data optimization.
The Cisco Data Privacy Benchmark Study 2020 highlights witnessing an increased percentage of enterprises (over 70%) receiving considerable business benefits from data privacy (e.g., operational efficiency, agility, and innovation).
Having robust internal data privacy regulation enables organizations to extract more valuable insights from their data. During the data discovery phase, you can gather insights into customer behaviour to formulate more actionable, real-time business workflows.
Wrapping Up
Data privacy is specifically important during IT test environment management, as sensitive data is at a higher risk of getting stolen. Data encryption is one example of data privacy implementation. Collaborate with the best IT agencies that give priority to data privacy and compliance.
