Privacy in a recession

Seeing the first proof of this issue of The Privacy Advisor prompted us to conduct an informal audit. We looked back over many other covers and determined that this month’s headlines may well be the most grave-sounding ever. But bankruptcy, takeovers, and terminated employees are the stuff of a recession, and the recession is what we’re talking about in this month’s issue.

Within these pages you’ll read an interview with the former chief privacy officer for a company that collapsed with the subprime mortgage market. The far-reaching ripples of that collapse have not ebbed. Just this week the U.S. Courts released bankruptcy statistics, revealing a 59 percent increase in business filings over the previous 12-month period. Japan’s jobless rate is at a five-year high. Europe’s economy continues to recede.

Yet as economies shrink, privacy concerns grow.

Sensitive data commands special handling during bankruptcies, mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations. Risks posed by laid-off or disgruntled employees need to be mitigated. And those responsible for collecting and protecting personal information must be ever-more mindful that troubled times place even greater pressures on organizations to cut corners when it comes to compliance and data management.

The stories in this issue clarify an important point: managing privacy and protecting data are more important now than ever.

J. Trevor Hughes, CIPP
Executive Director, IAPP