From the course: Creating a Culture of Privacy

Tying privacy to your corporate mission

From the course: Creating a Culture of Privacy

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Tying privacy to your corporate mission

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- Beyond the brief mention of privacy in the annual business conduct training, most employees in companies never hear about the issue of privacy or think they have a role in protecting it. Does this sound like your company? Well, for companies that want to be successful in the digital era, they need to start approaching privacy in a different way. The first step is creating an environment within your organization where protecting customer's privacy is top of mind for every employee. To do this, you need to align the importance of privacy with your corporate values. Now, I know what you're thinking. My company doesn't do anything related to privacy. How am I going to link privacy to our mission? But let me assure you, it is completely possible and an important first step on your journey to creating a culture of privacy. So, let's walk through a little exercise to help you realize this. Imagine you work for a company that manufactures athletic wear. How in the world do you connect privacy to your corporate value of helping people be fit and lead better lives? Well, maybe one of the things your company has done to drive this mission forward is to set up a website where people can buy merchandise and connect with other customers and share their fitness goals. This site is really helpful to your marketing team because it provides information about what merchandise people are purchasing, if their sizes are changing, and they are meeting their goals and it helps keep them engaged in the product, but people are not going to use the site and share all of this data if they don't think your company is protecting the sensitive information they are sharing. Your company, therefore, has to think about how it's going to handle the data it receives, how it's going to protect it, and in some ways, most importantly, how it's going to give its customers a reason to trust your company. What should help frame all these decisions is your company's values. To help people get fit and lead better lives, you need them to trust your organization so that they engage and share data. It's that simple. When you communicate that message to your executives and to your employees, it will help them better understand how protecting your customer's data ultimately helps drive the company's core mission forward. Rather than taking the approach of you must do this because the company is legally required to do this, I want to encourage you to take a step back and instead explain how taking certain steps to protect your customer's privacy will ultimately help the company successfully execute on its mission to help people get fit. As you begin to build the policies and documentation that will support your company's approach to privacy, think about the values that will drive the tough decisions. Incorporate those corporate values into the privacy framework you design so that when you are faced with the question of, can we use this data for X purpose or why can't we build a product that collects extra sensitive information? You have more than the law to guide your answer. It is in these moments that it is helpful for every decision maker to understand how your company's approach to privacy is woven into your mission and values.

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