Data Privacy Day and Month

Posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2019

Calendar graphic“Data Privacy Day” – held 28 January every year – is a fast growing, international event that aims to help educate people in understanding their privacy rights, help protect their personal privacy and identity, as well as control their digital footprints. It marks the beginning of “Data Privacy Month” (February) during which privacy-related events are held all over the world. This event began in North America in 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe.

Data Privacy Day is held every Jan. 28 right across the world, to bring awareness about the importance of protecting personal information, sometimes called personally identifiable information (PII). By learning and practicing some simple tips on how to do so, it helps build our culture of respecting privacy, safeguarding information and enabling digital trust.

Tips

  • Personal Data of learners and employees is entrusted to us. Respect it. Protect it. – Do not collect more personal data than needed. Take every opportunity to de-personalize or “de-identify” data sets whenever you can. When sending sensitive information, make sure that you use correct email addresses. Securely dispose of sensitive information when it is no longer required. Turn in broken or no longer needed hard drives to the ITS Cyber Security Unit for secure destruction.
  • Use Strong Passwords – Make sure you are not using the same password for every account. Use at least 8 characters consisting of capitals, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Use a password manager such as LastPass.
  • Keep Software up to Date – Make sure to install the latest software on all computers and mobile devices.
  • At Home Protection – Follow the same guidelines when at home where personal information can easily be compromised as well. Retain from sharing personal information online or with others and keep sensitive College information out of reach from others.
  • Immediately Report Security Incidents and Data Breaches – Report to the Cyber Security Unit at infosec@algonquincollege.com

Resources

Risks of File Sharing
Protect Yourself
How to Encrypt an Excel File
How to Encrypt a Word Document
Learn More

Information Security is everybody’s business.


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