Certification Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 26) JOB ROLES Data Administrators: Protecting Customers’ Privacy SCOTT SCHUMACHER With increasing security risks and ever-expanding lists of privacy and security-compliance restrictions, data security and privacy are top needs at all businesses today. To address these challenges, many organizations need data administrators who can implement customer data integration solutions. The rising use of digital technologies and the Internet during the past decade has led to a dramatic explosion in the collection and use of personal data by government agencies and businesses. For the most part, the information has been leveraged in ways that make people’s lives easier and more productive. Businesses throughout the world now routinely conduct important business transactions and trade data with business partners over public networks. And a growing number of consumers are banking, shopping, booking travel arrangements, updating account information and filing taxes without leaving their offices and living rooms. But although electronic use of information provides numerous benefits, it also poses various risks. Today’s headlines, with their disturbing accounts of identity theft and security breaches, underscore the dire consequences of electronic communications and electronic data sharing. Moreover, the increasing frequency of negative publicity has heightened public awareness of the security and privacy risks associated with the Information Age. The growing concern for these threats, as well as the burgeoning list of privacy and security-compliance restrictions, are two important reasons why organizations in every government and business sector must take steps to ensure the privacy and security of customer data. To address these challenges, many organizations need IT professionals who can implement customer data integration (CDI) solutions, which allow them to leverage customer information to their best advantage while securing and managing data to ensure the rules and policies governing privacy and security are respected and followed. Data Problems that Endanger Security and Privacy Many data-privacy and security problems occur because of the proliferation of inaccurate data maintained by the growing number of private, corporate and government organizations. With today’s rise in the use of and reliance on the Internet, the volume of data has increased dramatically, but the quality and accuracy has actually decreased — industry analysts report extremely high degrees of inaccuracy in files maintained by credit bureaus, collection agencies, health providers and direct mail services. Unfortunately, inaccurate information that is erroneously released or shared can negatively affect people’s privacy and damage their reputations. 26 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE September 2007
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