How eLearning Can Help to Prevent Privacy Breaches – Privacy Blog Part III
Last week I continued a discussion with part II on the importance of protecting your business’s privacy, with a focus on best practices for employees when using Email. This week I would like to conclude the discussion by offering some important tips around the use of common hardware seen in the workplace, and that is personal devices including a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
As I mentioned last week, we take the protection of our customer’s privacy very seriously, so much so that we have developed programs, both eLearning and instructor led, that cover all aspects of safeguarding customer privacy. With that said, let’s look at a few tips and best practices when using personal devices.
Smartphones, tablets and laptops are tools which have opened new doorways to employee mobility, flexibility and connectivity. This new age of freedom and mobility however comes at a cost, and that is the increased risk of a privacy breach due to the information that is typically stored by these devices. It is not uncommon for many employees to utilize a smartphone for both business and personal reasons, which means that these devices become a repository of sensitive information, which, if lost, can harm your customers and your business. Therefore, it is vital that organizations ensure their employees understand the importance of keeping these devices safe and secure and reporting a lost or stolen device immediately.
Here are a few other tips when using personal devices:
Be mindful of the applications that are installed. Each time you install an app, it will ask you for permissions to access your device features or data, such as your contacts, photos or camera. Remember the old adage that “nothing is free”. Therefore, if you install an application that is free, it probably will require access to your device as a means to extract payment through the collection of personal information.
Do not charge your electronic devices by connecting them to other people's chargers or computers. Besides increasing the risk of malware infection, connecting devices to other people's computer equipment could, in some situations, cause data to be transferred between them. If you use a personal device business, as well as pleasure, then you are putting your organisations data and security at a great risk
Do not synch your phone or device to a different car to a (rental car or a loaner from a dealership). By doing so, even after you have disconnected the device, the information on your phone or tablet can be stored and accessed later. If however it becomes necessary to sync your phone to a rental or borrowed vehicle, remember to delete the device from the source list menu from the car's memory.
If you’re interested in learning more about Privacy protection modules or ILT programs on Privacy Protection for your organization, please contact us at info@pathwaysinc.ca or at 1-888-961-6011.
