Why Every Business Needs a Strong Data Privacy Policy

With Florida businesses increasing their use and reliance on technology, more and more personal information is being stored online. This makes private information more susceptible to data theft or misuse. As a result, consumers and society at large are becoming more conscientious about protecting personal information that’s stored online. Due to these rising expectations, Florida businesses must take greater care in protecting the personal information they collect during the course of business. And one of the most important steps in meeting this responsibility is developing and implementing a strong data privacy policy.

What Is Data Privacy?

Data privacy applies to the legal and professional obligation of organizations (especially businesses) to protect personally identifiable information of the people they do business with. This duty of protection applies not just to unauthorized access of that information, but also to ensuring the information is used in a way that’s consistent with the intent of the individuals who provided that information. Personally identifiable information is any type of information that can be associated or traced to a specific person. Common forms of personally identifiable information collected and/or stored by businesses include:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Email
• Phone number
• Social Security number (full or last four digits)
• Username and password to online accounts
• Payment information, such as credit, debit, and bank account numbers

How a Strong Data Privacy Policy Can Help Florida Businesses

Instituting a strong data privacy policy has multiple benefits. One of the most important is that it can reduce the risk of harm to the business, especially with respect to legal risk.

Reduce Legal Risk

There are several federal and state laws that impose legal duties on Florida businesses concerning the protection of personal information. These obligations often revolve around taking reasonable steps to protect the information, how that information can be collected, and/or limiting a business’s ability to use that information without the owner’s consent. Below are some federal laws that contain one or more legal duties within the data privacy context:

• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Federal Trade Commission Act
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
• Fair and Accurate Transactions Act

Florida has also joined several other states in passing its own data privacy laws. The two most prominent are the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 and the Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR). The Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 imposes procedures for protecting and securing personal information, and the FDBR provides Floridians certain rights concerning how their personal data is used when collected by for-profit organizations with more than $1 billion in annual gross global sales. To comply with many of these laws, businesses have no choice but to craft and implement strong data privacy policies. Having strong data privacy policies can also limit legal sanctions a business might otherwise face when there’s a data breach. This is because courts and government agencies will look more favorably on businesses that make reasonable, good-faith efforts to protect customer and client personal information.

Increase Customer or Client Trust

More and more customers are beginning to prioritize the protection of their personal information, and they expect the entities they do business with to do the same. A business that has a transparent and robust data privacy policy will help instill trust and confidence with current and future customers. Many customers won’t hesitate to take their business elsewhere if they don’t feel confident that their information is being protected. Instilling this confidence can be a competitive advantage for Florida businesses.

Reduce the Risk of a Data Breach

Simply having a data privacy policy in place, on its own, won’t stop data theft or the unauthorized use of personal information. But a business that has a strong data privacy policy in place is far more likely to take steps to protect personal information and have protocols in place to effectively deal with a data breach.

What Makes a Strong Data Privacy Policy?

What constitutes a strong data privacy policy will depend on multiple factors, such as the industry, customer base, and how much information the business must collect. However, there are several traits that a good data privacy policy should have, such as:

• Explaining what data the business will collect, why it will collect that data, and how the business will use that data.
• Training employees on how to protect and store confidential information.
• Avoiding the collection of more data than is necessary.
• Implementing procedures for responding to data breaches.
• Creating rules on how long data can be kept before deletion.
• Instituting a monitoring program for personal information.
• De-identifying customer or client data whenever possible.
• Keeping track of where the protected information is stored and who has access to it.
• Explaining to customers how their information is shared with third parties, assuming it’s shared at all.
• Identifying and implementing necessary data security measures, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and data destruction procedures.

Enhance Data Privacy With Jimerson Birr

In today’s Internet and electronic age, it’s practically impossible to avoid handling the personal information of clients and customers. Businesses can also gain strategic benefits and valuable insights when analyzing their customers’ data. But with these powers and opportunities come professional and legal responsibilities. If you feel like your business could use a stronger data privacy policy, the data privacy and cybersecurity attorneys of Jimerson Birr are ready to help. Contact us to schedule a consultation and get started.