Towards a Trustworthy Data Sharing Ecosystem
November 12, 2021
In this interconnected digital world, individuals’ personal data become easily accessible to unintended recipients around the world with just a few clicks away. This happened when we knowingly or unknowingly disclose our personal data to the service providers or other third parties. As the data breach incidents continue to spike, consumers become more careful about the data they share. Some of the consumers are reluctant to disclose their personal data unless the purpose of data collection is clear and appropriate. Consequently, it has brought data privacy under the spotlight and companies are expected to develop a trusted data sharing framework to tackle the rising prevalence of this issue. Data privacy is one of the issues that closely linked with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) topics. Therefore, companies can practice the social aspect within ESG through the adoption of a holistic and risk-based data protection measures.
As part of the initiatives to facilitate trust when performing data-driven activities, multiple industry leaders such as IBM and KPMG are holding hands to launch a new Credence Data Trust Rating System (Credence DTRS) in Singapore. According to The Straits Times, this rating system strives to verify if a company is having a safe data handling practices that meet the industry standards. The Credence DTRS is a complementary approach of Data Protection Trust Mark (DPTM) which allows companies to demonstrate the accountability of their data protection measures to stakeholders. These approaches can help companies to provide assurance to their stakeholders especially the consumers that they are taking a proactive stance on data security. Find out more on DPTM and how to prepare your business for the certification.
Conclusion
Recently, The Straits Times has reported that the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of Singapore has collected S$2.68 million of fines from the companies that failed to comply with the PDPA since 2016 until now. This shows that data privacy issues have far reaching consequences to the organisations, not only the financial penalties but also reputational damage. Therefore, keeping personal data safe and secure require collective efforts from various parties including employees at all levels and data intermediaries. It is vital for companies to develop a robust risk management framework and data breach response plan to anticipate the potential threats and action plans to manage data breach events.
How we can help
- Assist in the development of a comprehensive Data Protection Management Programme (DPMP)
- Draft and review of policies and other supporting documents aligned with the DPTM Certification Framework
- Walk through the DPTM application and certification process
- Assist in the application of funding support
Reference Materials
Chee, K. (2021). ‘New trustmark to assure consumers in S’pore their data is protected’, The Straits Times, 4 October. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/new-trustmark-to-assure-consumers-in-spore-their-data-is-protected
Kurohi, R. (2021). ‘$2.68 million collected in fines for personal data protection breaches to date’, The Straits Times, 2 November. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/268-million-collected-in-fines-for-pdpa-breaches-to-date
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