Protection of data is crucial to building consumer trust as the digital world becomes increasingly interconnected. Customers expect their companies to safeguard and protect their personal information, and businesses that excel in this regard have a competitive advantage over those who next page do not. This article outlines ten essential guidelines that every company should know and follow to safeguard customer data.
Personal information is the most basic type of customer data. It is any information that could be used to directly identify an individual. This includes names, addresses, phone numbers and more. There are even more sensitive data types that can have serious consequences in the event that they fall into wrong hands. For example, a Social Security Number or credit card number. SPI also covers racial and ethnic origin, sexual preference, as well as other sensitive personal details.
SPI can be used for identity theft. This poses a grave threat to the personal and financial security of customers. Hackers could use this information to obtain credit or loans under the name of the victim. This can have devastating effects.
To reduce the risk of data breaches, businesses should limit the amount SPI they collect and only use it for legitimate reasons. They should also implement encryption on their servers and when they transfer data to ensure that the data cannot be obtained by hackers. Finally, they should have password management tools and two-factor authentication to reduce the risk of data breaches that are triggered by compromised passwords.