How privacy issues are being addressed with cybersecurity. Imagine your cell phone rings. A strange voice from an unrecognized number asks, “What are you doing right now?” Who is this? “No one you know,” says the voice. What do you want? “To know what you’re doing.” Cue the creepy music. Consider calling 9-1-1. This is real life. It’s amazing to think how that same behavior online—a perfectly tame social media exchange—would be vaguely threatening in the physical world. It would feel like a boundary crossed without permission. Like an invasion of your privacy. As our cover story on “The Privacy Paradox” points out, the long-simmering debate about privacy controls over personal data is bubbling back to life. There is a volatile mix brewing from ubiquitous mobile Internet access, rising social media use, extensive data outsourcing, vague privacy policies, different generational expectations and the looming potential of stricter federal laws protecting consumer information. So, as much as CIOs would love to avoid getting dragged into this fray, how can the ultimate stewards of corporate data step away? “CIOs generally don’t care about privacy,” claims Peter Milla, a former CIO and chief privacy officer at Survey Sampling International. CIOs push the issue off to their security chiefs instead, he says, which may seem like a sensible strategy until the lawyers weigh in. Attorneys believe privacy concerns should be triggering louder alarms in the CIO’s office over everything from customer data theft and trade secret protections to the PR aftermath of employees leaking confidential company information via social media outlets. “Our job as CIOs is to educate people about how what they’re doing today can be searched across the world today or tomorrow,” says CTO Matt Kesner of law firm Fenwick & West. He worries that it’s a mighty short hop from doing business casually over corporate IM to mistakenly sharing proprietary company data on Twitter. Indeed, the biggest worry of all will likely come from your company’s revenue source: the customers. They want to connect and do business online—flinging around all sorts of private information—while still feeling protected and in control of their own data. The buck for all that will stop right at the CIO’s desk. Is that your cell phone ringing? What are you doing right now? Related content brandpost Democratizing HPC with multicloud to accelerate engineering innovations Cloud for HPC is facilitating broader access to high performance computing and accelerating innovations and opportunities for all types of organizations. By Tanya O'Hara Jun 01, 2023 6 mins Multi Cloud brandpost Survey: Marketers embrace AI at expense of metaverse investments Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has quickly rocked the world of marketing. Sitecore polled B2B marketers on their perceptions of GAI. Here’s what they said. By Dave O’Flanagan, Sitecore Jun 01, 2023 4 mins Artificial Intelligence news Zendesk to lay off another 8% of its staff, cites macroeconomic issues The new tranche of layoffs comes just six months after the company let go of 300 staffers and hired a new CEO in order to navigate its operations through macroeconomic distress. By Anirban Ghoshal Jun 01, 2023 3 mins CRM Systems IT Jobs feature 5 CxOs on leading change To be the agents of change that businesses require today, IT leaders must embrace a flexible mindset, prep their orgs for change, and recognize that intention and purpose are vital to empowering transformation. By Dan Roberts Jun 01, 2023 13 mins Digital Transformation Change Management IT Leadership 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