Data privacy is a bit of a hot topic in today’s business environment, especially with high-profile hacks and ransomware attacks emerging and putting organizations at risk. In particular, the emerging concept of “privacy engineering” has a lot of businesses thinking about how they can secure their organization and future-proof their data privacy infrastructures.

Let’s discuss what privacy engineering is, as well as what some big names in the industry have to say about the future of data privacy.

What is Privacy Engineering?

The International Association for Privacy Professionals, or IAPP, defines privacy engineering as “the technical side of the privacy profession,” which can mean any number of things. For some, it is making sure that the processes involved in product design take privacy into consideration. For others, it might mean the technical knowledge required to implement privacy into the products. At the end of the day, it seems there is a general consensus that privacy engineering is the consideration of privacy, from a user’s standpoint, throughout the production process, from conception to deployment.

This is notable for a couple of reasons. Systems and products that take privacy into consideration at every stage of development will be much more consumer-friendly. Users can be more confident that their privacy has been considered through each stage of the process, making them much more likely to buy into the product. When products have this kind of reputation, it would be no surprise to see profits increase.

This sets off a chain reaction for businesses that create these products, increasing their bottom line. When businesses achieve this level of success, the value of the company increases, leading to more investors and the production of similar goods or services. Furthermore, since privacy and security is such an important part of modern computing, these types of investments are relatively safe from a shareholder’s point of view, as organizations that invest in products that meet specific regulations and set these high standards are more likely to persist into the future.

You can see how this all shakes out; in the end, the concept of privacy engineering is beneficial to both the consumer and producer. Therefore, placing your bets on technology that facilitates this is a great way to invest in your own company’s future.

What Does the Future Hold?

Back in 2020, Gartner made some predictions for where the data privacy industry was heading in the years to come. Here are some insights from their report:

• Proactive security and privacy is better: When you take measures to build security and privacy into operations, you are more likely to build trust and adhere to regulations. We preach this all the time; it is easier to prevent issues from emerging than reacting to those that are already here.
• Increased reach of security regulations: According to Gartner, 65% of the world’s population will have their privacy governed by some sort of data privacy legislation or regulations by the year 2023. This is notable, especially with the rise of regulations like GDPR.
• The rise of a privacy officer: By the end of 2022, 1 million organizations will have appointed a data privacy officer. Having someone within your organization whose sole responsibility is to keep you compliant means that you can rest easy knowing that you are doing all you can to make sure it stays that way.

Don’t Wait to Get Started

415 IT can help your business ensure it is implementing adequate data privacy and security standards all across your infrastructure. To get started, reach out to us at (415) 295-4898.