Preventing Privacy Breaches will Protect your Reputation

It is Friday afternoon and your head tech guy just told you he “thinks” there was a breach in the data storage system. Are you ready? Blogs, social media sites and the news all talk about the breaches, but fail to tell you why it is important, how to prevent it and what to do in the event of a breach. If this is the first time you hear the term “breach” in your company, chances are you are not compliant and the Federal Trade Commission or the State Attorney General is going to explain to you what you did wrong. Companies may shrug at the need to keep consumer information safe. However, protecting personal information is paramount for consumers and government agencies. Studies show that consumers are more likely to do business with companies that have security processes in place. Not only is consumer confidence and company reputation a few of the reasons to secure information; but be assured that companies are subject to huge fines for non-compliance with personal data security. Depending upon the data you’re taking in and storing, you may be subject to the following laws: