How you handle confidential data may spell the difference between consumer loyalty and business disaster, says Forrester analyst Heidi Shey . We are in a golden age of data breaches–it’s a matter of when, not if, you’ll be responding to a data loss event–and consumer attitudes about data security and privacy are evolving accordingly. If your data security and privacy programs exist just to ensure regulatory compliance, you’re going to be in trouble. Do you know your data — what you have, how you got it, where it is, why you have it, and who needs it? Data (and the insights it yields) is power: Among other things, it can help your company better understand customer behavior and preferences, and improve business processes and efficiencies. But data can also lead to an organization’s downfall if it’s handled improperly or lost. There is a maze of conflicting global privacy laws to address and business partner requirements to meet in today’s data economy. There’s also a fine line between cool and creepy, and it’s often blurred. Meanwhile, customers–both consumers and businesses–vote with their wallets. Smart organizations will make an effort to earn customer trust by ensuring that privacy is a competitive differentiator for their businesses and part of their business technology (BT) agendas. They can’t just pay lip service to privacy; they must adopt appropriate policies and enforcement measures, and build privacy considerations into business operations and the products or services offered to customers. Today, about one-third of security decision-makers in North America and Europe view privacy as a competitive differentiator. Forrester expects half of all enterprises to share that sentiment by the end of this year. A privacy champion–be it a chief privacy officer, a data protection officer or another IT professional–will take on this responsibility to rally and oversee privacy efforts. The key here is that the champion must lead the effort, not take sole responsibility for it. As CIOs expand the BT agenda beyond internal IT operations to include a focus on acquiring and retaining customers, privacy protection is critical. Work with your privacy champion to identify privacy risks and requirements, and understand the privacy impact of BT decisions. Heidi Shey is an analyst at Forrester Research. Related content feature CIOs grapple with the ethics of implementing AI With ethical considerations around AI use increasingly top of mind, IT leaders are developing governance frameworks, establishing review boards, and coming to terms with the difficult discussions and decisions ahead. By Esther Shein Dec 11, 2023 13 mins Generative AI Generative AI Generative AI feature Reed Smith turns to AI for lawyer staffing solution The legal firm’s Smart Resourcing tool helps balance workloads and ensure partners find associates with the right skills and experience, while empowering employees to make connections across the firm’s global footprint. By Sarah K. White Dec 11, 2023 8 mins CIO 100 Legal Digital Transformation news Emirates NBD drives sustainability goals with Microsoft partnership By Andrea Benito Dec 10, 2023 2 mins CIO news COP28: How Du and Ericsson's partnership is supporting UAE Net Zero Strategy By Andrea Benito Dec 10, 2023 3 mins CIO Green IT Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe