That’s one of the big takeaways from a recent Cisco study that found enhanced importance of privacy protections during the pandemic, as well as benefits for businesses that adopt strong data-security measures.

Upheaval
At a time of disruption and uncertainty due to the pandemic, people have been suddenly expected, and at times required, to share their personal information to help curtail the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, people have shifted much of their lives online, accelerating a trend that normally would have taken years.

These mass-scale shifts in human interaction and digital engagement presented many challenging data privacy issues for organizations who aim to follow the law and stop the spread of the pandemic—while respecting individual rights and safeguarding intellectual property.

Privacy and security practices
Privacy is much more than just a compliance issue, as the flowing findings illustrate:

60% of organizations say they weren’t prepared for privacy and security requirements involved in the shift to remote work.

93% of organizations turned to their privacy teams to help navigate these challenges.

87% of consumers expressed concerns about the privacy protections of the tools they needed to use to work, interact, and connect remotely.

90% of organizations are now reporting privacy metrics to their top execs and boards.

What does all this mean to you as an employee? According to analysts, the new business priorities make it more important than ever to follow company guidelines around:

Using only software applications approved by your IT department.
Avoiding “shadow IT” apps that can cause legal, compliance, and security problems. Keeping your home digital devices updated to make them as secure as possible.