Due to this ongoing pandemic, most people whose professions are suitable for working remotely, are currently working from home. One of the biggest challenges of work-from-home is the perennial fight against cyber crime. Thus, Microsoft has taken active part in spreading awareness about cybersecurity and the threats of cyber criminals. In the light of this initiative, Microsoft has launched several awareness programs in the past weeks, such as, Zero Trust Deployment Center, New Threat Protection APIs, etc. Julie Brill, Corporate Vice President for Global Privacy and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Privacy Officer at Microsoft wrote a blog post, addressing the importance of cyber security.
During this pandemic, we are witnessing the biggest digital transformation, where remote connectivity to facilitate education, work, research has become one of the most important mode of communication at present. Thus, the importance of privacy lies above anything else. Brill mentioned in her blog post, that the United States are not paying that much attention to this issue. It deserves much more importance than it is currently being given. Besides, she also added, that data privacy is the consolidated responsibility of the companies. No matter what the law says, if the companies aren’t sincere about the significance of data privacy and cybersecurity, customers will stop replying on them, and will trying moving towards other alternatives.
She wrote,”Instead of lobbying Congress or state legislatures to water down or block privacy legislation, it is time for businesses to advocate for stronger privacy laws in this country. In addition to engendering greater trust with their customers, a strong privacy law will provide companies with clear guardrails about how they can use data for responsible innovation with greater assurance.
And whether new laws are passed or not, it is essential that companies develop their own strong privacy standards and assume accountability for how they use customers’ data.“
She puts forward transparency, consumer empowerment, corporate responsibility, strong enforcement to adumbrate a will organized strong privacy protection system.
- Transparency about how companies collect, use and share personal information. Consumers are clamoring to understand what data companies have and how they will interact with it
- Consumer empowerment that guarantees the right of individuals to access, correct, delete and move personal information
- Corporate responsibility that requires companies to be good stewards of consumer information
- Strong enforcement through a strong central regulator and vigilant state’s attorneys general offices that have the authority and funding to enforce the laws and take action to hold violators accountable
Read the entire blogpost here.
