The Globe and Mail offers tips to help small companies protect personal data online, which, done wisely, "can create customer goodwill and even lift sales, while reducing business and legal risks." The first step is understanding what customer data your business needs and is currently collecting and storing. Next, it's important to minimize that collection, secure the collected data and post a privacy policy informing customers of your practices. Communication with customers is also key, as is giving them a choice of whether they want their data shared. Jules Polonetsky, CIPP/US, of the Future of Privacy Forum says trouble can be avoided simply by having someone in charge of data protection.
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