A study by Osano has shown that companies with poor privacy practices are 80 percent more likely to experience a data breach. In this article we have spoken on multiple occasions about how to maintain privacy on the Internet , something that is fundamental today, and it is also very important to maintain privacy on social networks when sharing our content.
Study of bad privacy practices
The Osano data privacy platform in case you do not know it works in three areas:
- Managing consent by helping a website comply with all privacy laws in 34 languages.
- Easily manage data subject rights.
- You can name Osano as his GDPR representative to the EU.
This company conducted a study to measure the privacy practices of the top 10,000 websites. To carry out the study, it used an evaluation framework that analyzed 163 different factors. Osano then, to draw his conclusions, developed a privacy rating. We should never confuse privacy vs. security , since although they are aspects that almost always go hand in hand, it is not the same.
Criteria for evaluating privacy malpractices include, whether a company sells, shares, or licenses data to third parties or affiliates. Also if that company knowingly collects data on children under the age of 13. By studying these two points, you were able to establish a clear and simple benchmark for privacy performance.
After the study was conducted, the companies in the top quartile obtained an average privacy score of 669. However, the companies with poor privacy practices were located in the bottom quartile and obtained an average of 493.
Conclusions of the study
Among the findings, companies in the lowest quartile of privacy scores lost 600% more records than companies with the best privacy scores. In this sense, the companies with the worst privacy practices are the ones that will have the hardest time retrospectively identifying the root cause of a violation.
Osano’s comprehensive study drew the following conclusions:
- Approximately 2.77% of companies have reported a data breach in the last fifteen years.
- Companies with the least stringent privacy practices are almost twice as likely to experience a data breach as another company with excellent data management.
- An average company shares its data with 730 different providers and third parties. Third parties were responsible for two out of every three data breaches.
- Hacker attacks were responsible for the highest number of data breaches.
- Financial companies are more likely to experience data breaches caused by internal jobs.
- Nearly 30% of government and educational organizations with top-level domains “.gov” and “.edu” experienced a data breach.
In this sense, as I have previously explained, the governmental and educational websites are the ones that obtain worse ratings. In this sense they are up to 15 times more likely to experience a violation than commercial sites.
Bad privacy practices and their consequences
Currently, infractions are growing non-stop due to business malpractice or hacker attacks. Every day users are more aware and we care about the security of our data. This type of news bad privacy practices is causing the loss of consumer and shareholder confidence in companies. We recommend you read our article about the best Chrome extensions for privacy .
Those companies that are not adequately protecting confidential data will face serious negative consequences. Once a security breach has occurred due to the use of poor privacy practices, it will cause that user to experience a lack of trust in the company in the medium or long term. Learn how to protect your personal data on the Internet .
According to statements by Osano co-founder and CEO Arlo Gilbert, there is a perception that privacy concerns are similar to a speeding ticket and that the risk is bearable. In addition, he adds that if companies do not change their perception, they will have a greater chance of having a data breach and losing trust with their customers.
Therefore, responsible data management, avoiding bad privacy practices, is the best way to keep a company secure and to maintain the trust of its customers. Finally, you can get the full report on the Osano website