Test Your Data Privacy Smarts on Data Privacy Day

January 28th is Data Privacy Day, an international effort to raise awareness and empower both individuals and businesses to respect privacy, safeguard data and enhance trust. The celebration commemorates the signing of Convention 108 on Jan. 28, 1981, the first legally binding international treaty addressing privacy and data protection.

As trust is the core of our identity, Docusign remains committed to ensuring that data - whether of our customers or that which we handle in the normal course of our business - is protected through trusted and reliable data privacy and security practices. Docusign is making ongoing investments to regularly enhance our global privacy posture, including maintaining a Global Privacy Program with dedicated team members based in the US and globally.

This is not simply about complying with laws and regulations; it’s also about ensuring that we strive to achieve the goals and aspirations of Docusign’s privacy commitments which reflect the promises we make to those we do business with as well as to each other within Docusign.

How much do you know about protecting data privacy? Review these key questions to test your privacy knowledge.

1. What types of information are protected under data privacy laws?

Data privacy includes the control, use and disclosure of Personally Identifiable information (PII). PII includes any data that alone, or in combination with other information, can identify an individual. Examples include name, email, phone number, address, social security number, social or financial account information, or tracking information such as IP address or specific GPS location data. 

2. What rights do individuals have around data privacy?

Any business that collects personal information is required to publish a clear and accessible privacy notice/policy that states how data will be collected, used, stored, shared, and deleted. The use and disclosure of health information is further protected in the United States by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Further rights are granted for EU citizens under the incoming GDPR legislation.

3. How can you protect the data privacy of others in the workplace?

Familiarize yourself with your organization’s privacy notices and policies. Businesses should only use PII data belonging to customers, employees, or others for business purposes and have clear privacy notices and policies in place. Personal data should be stored carefully so that it will not be shared unintentionally with unauthorized people and disposed of safely when no longer needed.

4. What are the risks of data privacy violations?

Trust is the foundation of successful business growth. Protecting personal data is critical to maintaining a trusted relationship with customers and employees. Beyond preservation of trust, new regulations have placed increasing accountability on senior management to ensure personal data is protected and businesses will be subject to significant fines for violating data protection and privacy regulations.

Celebrate Data Privacy Day by carefully and respectfully guarding the information and data entrusted to you. You can also help protect data privacy by limiting the information you share about others through social media and other online forums. For tips on protecting your personal data check here.