Data Privacy Day is a global efforttaking place annually on January 28that generates awareness about the importance of privacy, highlights easy ways to protect personal information, and reminds organizations that privacy is good for business. IUP is proud to be a Data Privacy Day champion.

In 2021, the National Cyber Security Alliance is encouraging individuals to "Own Your Privacy" by learning more about how to protect your valuable data online, and encouraging businesses to "Respect Privacy," which advocates for holding organizations responsible for keeping individuals' personal information safe from unauthorized access and ensuring fair, relevant and legitimate data collection and processing.

Follow these basic privacy tips:

Own Your Privacy

  • Personal info is like money: Value it. Protect it. Personal information, such as your purchase history, IP address, or location, has tremendous value to businessesjust like money. Make informed decisions about whether or not to share your data with certain businesses by considering the amount of personal information they are asking for and weighing it against the benefits you may receive in return.

  • Keep tabs on your apps. Many apps ask for access to personal information, such as your geographic location, contacts list, and photo album, before you can use their services. Be thoughtful about who gets that information, and wary of apps that require access to information that is not required or relevant for the services they are offering. Delete unused apps on your internet-connect devices, and keep others secure by performing updates.

  • Manage your privacy settings. Check the privacy and security settings on web services and apps, and set them to your comfort level for information sharing. Each device, application, or browser you use will have different features to limit how and with whom you share information. Get started with NCSA's Manage Your Privacy Settings page.

Respect Privacy

  • Employees should review and adhere to university policies involving data privacy. All employees should review these university policies and guidelines on an annual basis. It is critical that sensitive university and personal data remain secured.

  • If you collect it, protect it. Data breaches can not only lead to great financial loss, but a loss in reputation and customer trust. Follow reasonable security measures to keep individuals' personal information safe from inappropriate and unauthorized access. Make sure the personal data you collect is processed in a fair manner and only collected for relevant and legitimate purposes.

IT Support Center