Data Privacy
Data privacy helps us to ensure that sensitive and personal data is only accessible to approved parties.
Data privacy is the protection of personal data
from those who should not have access to it
Consumers’ data is the most valuable commodity for businesses today. In the internet-driven world, data is among the world’s most valuable resources because of how much potential revenue and business value it can provide.
A couple of decades ago, most companies would collect data mainly related to their transactions. Nowadays, they have learned that this type of data, while necessary, is not the key to revenue growth. The key is understanding individual consumers. Companies collect a great amount of data about their customers to provide their services, power customer experience, build profiles, promote marketing strategies, push targeted products and services, and even sell them.
What Types of Data Do Companies Collect?
- Personal data. This data category includes personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers and gender, as well as non-personally identifiable information, including IP addresses, web browser cookies, and device IDs.
- Engagement data. This type of data details how consumers interact with a business’s website, mobile apps, text messages, social media pages, emails, paid ads, and customer service routes.
- Behavioral data. This category of data includes transactional details such as purchase histories, product usage information – such as repeated actions, and qualitative data – such as mouse movement information.
- Attitudinal data. This data type encompasses metrics on consumer satisfaction, purchase criteria, product desirability, and more.
What is
Data Privacy ?
Data privacy is the protection of personal data from those who should not have access to it and the ability of individuals to determine who can access their personal information. Data privacy is typically applied to personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI).
Personally Identifiable Information is information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information, such as:
- Name, age, gender
- Biometric data
- Present and previous adress
- Phone numbers
- Email adress
- Marital status
- Age of children
- Property ownership
- Vehicle identifiers
- Political preferences
- Income details
- Educational details and more
Personal health Information
Personal Health Information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and generally encompasses individually identifiable health information that is transmitted or stored by a covered entity, such as health plans and health care providers, or its business associates. This type of information may include:
- Personal data
- Medical record number
- Health plan beneficiary number
- Certificate or licence number
- Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers
- Medicare entitlement
- Premium information
- Banking information
Risk of a Data Breach
Collecting and selling so much personal information has become a big business, but these practices make customers vulnerable to data breaches. There is a high demand for personal data in the illegal market and access to sensitive information by unauthorized parties can have serious consequences, such as:
- Fraud
- Identity theft
- Misuse of personal and confidential data
- Financial harm
- Reputational harm
- Further unauthorized disclosure of personal data
- Anxiety
- Emotional distress
- Loss of privacy
What is a Data Breach?
A data breach occurs when someone unauthorized gains access to sensitive data or confidential information, including personal data (Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, healthcare data) or corporate data (customer data records, intellectual property, financial information). Organizations of every size and type are vulnerable to breaches – large and small businesses, public and private companies, federal, state, and local governments, and non-profit organizations.
By obtaining, collecting, using, and deriving a benefit from customers’ personal data, companies assume certain duties to protect and safeguard that information from unauthorized access, intrusion, and acquisition.
Knowles Law Firm is actively involved in a high-profile data breach case involving allegations that over 200,000 elderly citizens’ personal data were compromised and constantly investigates allegations of data breaches.
If you were a victim of a data breach, and your data has been compromised or you suffered negative consequences as a result, contact us to talk through your situation and any potential legal options you may have.
Contact a Data Privacy Lawyer at
Contact us for inquiries
Knowles Law Firm, PC will advocate for your rights.
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