Can you keep a secret?

Next month marks the anniversary of the loss of more than 25 million citizens’ personal data by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and we continue to see examples of data loss. In the past year, the DVLA has lost 6,000 people’s personal details. HSBC, Nationwide and Standard Life have also reported the loss of more than a million customers’ banking information.

So what can be done to safeguard our valuable data? First, we can use technology to protect our computer systems. Second, we need to be more vigilant about giving out sensitive data; we often relinquish information online without questioning how it will be used.

My work with the government’s Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) has started to set the case for designing privacy functions within information and IT systems at the start of the project. We strongly advise that privacy technologies cannot be ‘bolted on’ at the end of software design. Organisations and businesses must commit to protecting their customers’ privacy upfront.