A friend of mine just published an interesting piece in the opinion/commentary section of the Wall Street Journal, entitled Buildings Beef Up Security in the Coronavirus Age. This article discusses the societal tradeoff between safety and privacy.

We have (globally) been accepting a diminishment of our individual privacy rights for the betterment of the greater good for some time. Should this idea seem at all novel, consider your last trip to the airport.

Even more interesting than the article has been the buzz it has generated and discussions fostered. People are weighing in on both sides, and debating the legality, morality and dangers of widespread information sharing, as well as the necessity of transparency.

Throughout the debate, there seems to be one common thread: all of the personal information collected, saved, transmitted and/or stored must be secured.

Cybersecurity is a prerequisite to data privacy; again, for clarity, privacy cannot be achieved without security. HIPAA very clearly understands this distinction and has promulgated differing rules for each category. Just as significantly, security cannot be achieved without investment.

As we catapult into the present, where a pandemic that would have been described as a science fiction event is now upon us, and where the future greets us every new morning, our ability to secure data becomes more critical every day.

Understand what personal information your company has access to, stores and/or transmits, and what is required of you to secure it. This pandemic requires us to rethink everything. Data has become our most valuable asset. It’s time we rethink how to protect it.

Should you operate in a field or an ecosystem that has compliance requirements, we can help to ensure that you are appropriately prepared. Conversely, should you hold information that you know you need to protect but haven’t adequately addressed, let’s talk.

—

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

BACK TO BLOGS