Data privacy and data protection are very closely interconnected, so much so that users often think of them as synonymous. But the distinctions between data privacy vs. data protection are fundamental to understanding how one complements the other. Privacy concerns arise wherever personally identifiable information is collected, stored, or used.
In a nutshell, data protection is about securing data against unauthorized access. Data privacy is about authorized access — who has it and who defines it. Another way to look at it is this: data protection is essentially a technical issue, whereas data privacy is a legal one.
These distinctions matter because they’re woven deeply into the overarching issues of privacy and cybersecurity, both of which loom large in businesses, politics and culture. For industries subject to compliance standards, there are crucial legal implications associated with privacy laws. And ensuring data protection may not adhere to every required compliance standard.
Data privacy or information privacy is a branch of data security concerned with the proper handling of data – consent, notice, and regulatory obligations. More specifically, practical data privacy concerns often revolve around:
- Whether or how data is shared with third parties.
- How data is legally collected or stored.
- Regulatory restrictions such as GDPR, HIPAA, GLBA, or CCPA.
Data protection is the process of safeguarding important information from corruption, compromise or loss. The importance of data protection increases as the amount of data created and stored continues to grow at unprecedented rates. There is also little tolerance for downtime that can make it impossible to access important information.
Average Rating