Every year since 1981, January 28 has been designated as International Data Privacy Day. Originating in Europe, Data Privacy Day has been adopted around the world and has been observed as a way of raising public awareness and education about the importance of data privacy. This year's theme is encouraging individuals to "Own Your Privacy," and for businesses to "Respect Privacy." Observing Data Privacy Day within your company can be a great way to further your privacy training and communication efforts as well. Some companies even extend their observations of the day to a week full of privacy-related activities.
But what if you were too busy at year-end to plan ahead for January? What if you don't have a big budget to plan a week's worth of activities? Fear not. You can still have a celebration of Data Privacy Day without breaking the bank or needing a giant planning committee.
Use Available Free Resources
Privacy and security industry groups have free resources with suggestions for practical steps to take to improve privacy and security. The National Cybersecurity Alliance, has information about Data Privacy Day, including calls to action, infographics, videos and more. The materials available relate to the theme of 'own your privacy.' Similarly, many online training providers have content available specifically to raise awareness around Data Privacy Day.
Host a Lunch and Learn
Data Privacy Day is a good time to ensure that employees in your organization are aware of your organization's privacy and security leadership and policies. Hosting a Lunch and Learn or office hours allows privacy and security leaders to be more visible and to make direct connections with employees who might want to better understand privacy or ask questions about policies that apply to them. In turn, you can use the opportunity to learn more about specific data processing activities or current privacy-impacting initiatives.
Use Privacy-Themed Movies
There are several popular movies with privacy-related themes that you can show to raise awareness of privacy impacting our daily lives. Examples that are frequently cited as interesting and relatable are "Minority Report," "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," and "The Lives of Others." After showing the movie, have a discussion of its privacy aspects and what it means to the viewer.
Tune Up Your Privacy Practices
Ask employees to ensure that they are following existing privacy and security protocols such as updating their passwords, following the record retention policy, or locking their computer when leaving their work station. Offer tips for securing personal devices, especially those that might be used for work purposes as well under a Bring Your Own Device policy.
Use the Company Newsletter or Intranet
Take advantage of the opportunity that Data Privacy Day offers to raise awareness by placing articles in your company newsletter or on your intranet. Directing people to pages where they can review your policies or other resources will help to reinforce the actions and behaviors required to protect data at your organization. You can even use the intranet to host an online scavenger hunt for the right answers.
If you are new to privacy or didn't have time to plan for Data Privacy Day, you don't have to miss out on the opportunity to raise awareness of privacy within your organization. You can start with these simple and free activities to keep privacy front and center with employees. Remember, Data Privacy Day is every January 28th, so you can already start planning--and budgeting--for next year!
