Data privacy has become an increasingly huge issue offshore. Here in the Philippines, it rarely gets a few minutes’ worth of discussion. It’s understandable. The country has a lot of other things to worry about.

Regardless, the pioneers and leaders in this country’s business sector must be one step ahead when it comes to this matter.

Entrepreneurs have the responsibility to protect their customers against any future exploitation from malicious organizations and even from themselves.

But what exactly is the issue with data privacy and why should everyone, not just you, be aware of it?

The Great Hack

The Great Hack is a Netflix special documentary about the effect of unethical data mining during the United States’ 2016 presidential elections. It focused on the company Cambridge Analytica, a UK-based data analysis, brokerage, and mining service provider.

Cambridge Analytica was investigated, and faced a class-action lawsuit together with Facebook. After the scandal erupted, Facebook suffered a major revenue loss and Cambridge Analytica filed for insolvency proceedings.

There are two things entrepreneurs can learn from The Great Hack. One, make it a priority to keep your, your family, and your business’ information safe from data harvesting. Two, dealing with another person’s data, particularly your customers’, is serious business.

The question now is: How can you actually protect your business from getting sued over data privacy issues and how you can protect your customers against it? Here are some data privacy tips you should start applying now.

1. Read Up on the Data Privacy Act of the Philippines (RA 10173)

It’s a long read, but it’s worth it. However, despite having a law that protects data, enforcement of this act is a huge challenge — not just here, but internationally. For a case to happen, you must file one in the National Privacy Commission, as per the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

2. Create and Strengthen Your Privacy Policy Statement

If your business already has one, be sure to review and update it to avoid complications. If you don’t, then you must draft one with a legal professional. Note that the Philippines’ policies and laws about data and online activities are still premature. Even US laws have a lot of loopholes; hence the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.

Local banks strictly comply with the Data Privacy Act since they are considered as personal information controllers (PICs) and personal information processors (PIPs). For example, the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ Data Privacy Statement expressly states:

• what data they will collect from customers — from personal information such as contact details, government ID details, and the like to non-personal information such as IP address, operating system, browser type and version, etc. when accessing their website
• how they are going to collect such data
• how they will use the given information
• how long they will store the data
• how they will share the data with third parties

Know that if your company acquires, stores, and processes personal information, you are considered a PIP and/or PIC. Once your company or data processing system reaches certain thresholds (e. g. more than a thousand data processed, more than 250 employees, etc.), you are required to cooperate with the National Privacy Commission and register your data processing system.

3. Advocate Data Privacy

This seems redundant after having a privacy policy that your customers can read. Face the fact that only a handful will actually read it, and it’s just actually a legal form to protect you from data privacy legal cases.

But for your customers’ and reputation’s sake, all customer-facing employees and data-gathering forms must inform your customers about how you’ll handle their data and where they can find your privacy policy.

4. Educate Your Customers

You and your business are not always in a position to do this, but you will always have a lot of opportunities to teach your customers some important data privacy measures and their digital rights. There are three things they need to learn from you: how to be anonymous, smart, and wise online.

For example, BPOs will always have a spiel when transacting with customers over the phone: They assure the customer how their data is going to be used. This is for the sake of transparency and for customers to be aware of how their information is going to handled by the business.

5. Strengthen Your Business’ Data Security

Data privacy is not just about letting customers know how you process your data; it’s also about protecting their data. Data breaches are catastrophic events where your customers’ data can be hacked from your servers or databases. Be sure to add more layers of security to protect your customers’ data.

You can check out Globe myBusiness’ cybersecurity solutions, offering best-in-value security solutions for your business, in and out of the office.

6. Improve Your Data Management

The less data you have, the less problems you can have regarding data privacy. It’s crucial to know what data to store and dispose. Knowing which data to store and dispose of lightens the load of your databases and keeps you and your IT guys’ lives much easier.

Also, be sure that your databases and networks use strong data encryption. Data doesn’t only get mined from its storage; it can also be “sniffed” while it’s being sent and received.

Know how tech tools can enhance you and your business’ data privacy and sign up to Globe myBusiness Academy.

Running any kind of business, be it in the field of retail, food, accommodations, finance or even education, often means having your business’ data on multiple devices. These devices range from company-owned cellphones, tablets or laptops to your employees’ personal gadgets.

Sharing data with your team is something that can’t be avoided, especially when you’re running a business that either involves storing data on digital channels or is entirely digital. However, because of this, your data is always at risk. Hackers, viruses, or other malware can get into your company’s linked devices and steal, corrupt or delete important data that you don’t want found outside of your company.

Mobile Device Management, or MDM, allows you to manage all the devices installed on one platform so that these devices are safe from malware or hacking, and the data is not at risk even in the case of device loss.

But it’s more than just security. Mobile Device Management also allows you to improve business productivity with some key features. Check out this list of other things you can do with MDM:

• Enroll devices simultaneously.

You or your IT department can enroll multiple devices onto the MDM platform simultaneously. This means you’ll just have to gather all the gadgets your employees use to access sensitive company data, and enroll them at the same time. It also supports all kinds of operating systems, so don’t worry if some employees have an iPhone while others have Samsung.

• Manage multiple devices at a time with Enterprise Mobility Management.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) allows you to manage the devices of your employees, such as restricting certain websites like bandwidth-hogging social media channels. You can also implement device policies to allow only certain apps during business hours.

• Remotely configure devices to fit specific employee needs.

Customize your employees’ devices to fit their needs. For example, you can have productivity apps installed and placed on their smartphones’ home screen so that they have quick access to them at all times. You can do this for multiple devices at a time (like if all your employees need their e-mail apps on the first page of their home screen) or for a few at once (like if a certain team needs to have their spreadsheets on hand always, while another needs their calendar more often).

• Manage devices remotely.

Say goodbye to the problem of not being able to use your device to function when you’re away from the office. With MDM, you can provide remote IT support to your teams, partners and employees from anywhere through its Cloud-based platform. All they need is to be connected to the Internet, and you’ll be able to manage their device’s programs and platforms to ensure that they’re working at their best.

• Consider using Password Managers.

To manage passwords for multiple accounts, you may use Password Manager apps that keep your passwords secure. These apps also help you create multiple strong and secure passwords for each of your accounts. These apps, however, can be a target for hackers, so you may have to consider which app you’ll be using for your business.

• Secure devices against loss or theft.

The MDM platform allows you to locate devices that are enrolled in the platform and track them if they ever get misplaced or stolen. This lessens the chances of your employees losing them, but the more crucial security feature is that it additionally allows you to wipe out sensitive company data on the device before it can be used by someone else. So, even if the device is stolen, your data can’t be abused. 

Mobile Device Management features are made to keep devices safe, but that doesn’t mean these will lower your company’s productivity. MDM is perfect for companies who work with multiple devices deployed to employees, partners or teams, while connecting to different networks. It’s also perfect if you want to boost your productivity while getting security at the same time.

If you like these tips, sign up to Globe myBusiness Academy for more useful and up-to-date insights on the business landscape that are sure to help you out!

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