Data Privacy Matters – good practices by Gert-Jan

Once again, on 28th January, it is Data Protection Day – hasn’t it come round fast! This was originally created by the EU back in 2007 to raise awareness of the field of privacy, supported each year through knowledge sessions, publishing reports, and so on. But is Data Protection Day still necessary? 

Even today with major advancements in awareness (and cyber security generally speaking) it, unfortunately, is in fact necessary. Every day you read something about ransomware, security breaches, and large and smaller fines issued by national supervisory authorities. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate recently stated that there are about 2.5 million(!!) victims of online crime such as hacking and scamming in the Netherlands every year. 

About the Author 

Gert-Jan is a certified IT Auditor and Privacy Expert and joined Resillion in September 2022 as an Information Security Consultant. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS AN INDIVIDUAL TO PROTECT YOUR DATA? MY PERSONAL TOP 3: 

Digital security, some good practices 

1. Be wary of the information you give out and receive. Is it wise to inform all your social media connections that you’re on away on holiday; that your house is currently vacant? And are you absolutely confident that any email requests you get (“click on this link”) haven’t been sent from a hacked or spoofed e-mail address?
2. Use strong, and different, passwords as well as 2 factor authentication. To make things a bit easier, consider using a password manager – remember to occasionally consult a “hacked password checker” to see whether your e-mail account or phone number is listed in one of these data dumps (recommendation for one is at the bottom of this article).
3. Regularly install security updates on your hardware (laptop, phone, router, and smart home devices such as cameras and doorbells). One of my colleagues, Dirk-Jan, actually recently worked on the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate’s campaign, “Do your Updates”, with some alarming results… check it out here.)

Trust 

How can organisations identify and reduce their risk(s), demonstrate the value of their GDPR and complementary national data protection regulations compliance, and enhance their reputation and market access? Well… In art. 42 of the GDPR it is described that the establishment of data protection certification mechanisms and of data protection seals and marks shall be promoted, and in October 2022 Europrivacy was approved by the European Data Protection Board as European Data Protection Seal. It is the only GDPR certification that is officially recognised in all EU Member States. Resillion has been selected for and qualified as a Europrivacy official partner and Certification Body by the European Centre for Certification and Privacy. 

Want to know more? 

Check out the content I’ve handpicked for you 

• GDPR fines: GDPR Enforcement Tracker – list of GDPR fines 
• Password hacked checker: Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach 
• Strong passwords: Create and use strong passwords – Microsoft Support 
• Smart home devices hacked: https://lnkd.in/eQgSBEEu 
• Secure your smart devices: Doe je updates (veiliginternetten.nl) 
• Europrivacy: Europrivacy GDPR Certification of Personal Data Protection and Privacy Conformity