Educating Employees on Data Privacy

Millions of people around the world have suffered abuse of their personal information in recent years. Thus, the issue of privacy stands extremely important today. Data selling has become more lucrative by the day. Nowadays, more personal information is accessible to organizations. As a result, the demand for stronger data protection is on the rise. Businesses with inadequate privacy protections are less likely to attract informed consumers.

It is the HR department’s responsibility to manage sensitive employee information and to ensure that the company adheres to data privacy regulations. To handle their processes like salaries, incentives, and others, they must rely on trusted software. Such as Paycom online software, which automates and streamlines payroll and HR processes securely without compromising data integrity. 

On the other hand, employees could quickly blame their IT departments for allowing a data breach to happen. They want to escape any responsibility, but systems are only efficient if they are used correctly. The biggest culprit behind information security breaches and data loss is human error. It leads to compromising privacy and security, which eventually results in the loss of sensitive data. Employers should provide employees with security training. This way they can prepare to prevent data breaches and cybercrime. They will be unable to recognize a threat to data privacy if employers do not provide them with the appropriate training on how to recognize such a threat.

Here are some ways to ensure your employees are aware of how securing data privacy works.

Introduce your privacy experts.

If no one in your organization knows much about IT, security, or privacy, you need (urgently) someone who does! Have a virtual meeting with the employee or department in charge of data privacy and security in your organization. Inform your workers where and how they can report privacy concerns so they know who to reach out to.

Rather than describing compliance programs or regulations to your experts, try getting them to share stories about data breaches. Consider media-reported case studies or share anonymous examples from your own company if appropriate.

Inspire an environment of privacy

Your senior leaders must participate in enforcing data privacy. Incorporate customer-centric organizational values into your data privacy policy to achieve executive compliance. Briefly summarize your organization’s progress and provide examples from your organization or other businesses in your sector. Increase top-down efforts by creating additional awareness campaigns to create an environment of openness and transparency.

Provide employees with privacy tips.

Your employees should be able to relate to data privacy and receive advice on handling personal data in a more efficient manner. When your employees have a better understanding of privacy and how it relates to them, they will understand what privacy means to your customers and employees.

Provide tips for securing your privacy online and how to adjust privacy settings on common devices and online services. Using resources from the National Cybersecurity Network, you can provide your employees with useful advice.

Encourage employees to learn about data privacy.

You should keep your employees informed about data protection. Include and provide data privacy training to new employees in your onboarding program or as a part of your upskill training. In most cases of data breaches, human error is the main reason, so this is crucial topic when training newcomers.

While you may think that workers already know enough about information security, you should evaluate your training program to keep up with the shifting work environment. The training you provide should also explain how to protect your personal information when you work remotely or at home.

Conclusion

In the world of cybercrime, nothing remains hidden, particularly from prying eyes and malicious hackers. If you want to protect your company’s and customers’ data, training employees in data security should be a crucial part of your data protection strategy. When employees know about data privacy, they tend to associate it with data security and dismiss it as the responsibility of the IT department rather than theirs. This assumption is absurd. Security of data refers to how it’s secured against external and internal attacks, whereas data privacy refers to how data is collected, transmitted, and stored. Even though software and systems are capable of preventing breaches, it is humans who pose the greatest risk to data security and privacy. Employers must educate employees about these distinctions to ensure the data protection of the organizations.