World Data Privacy Day: 2021 Likely a Watershed Year for Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

January 27, 2021

Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Group - Bond, Schoeneck & King

Today is World Data Privacy Day, an international event aimed at raising awareness about data privacy and protection. At Bond, we are celebrating by prompting dialogue about changes in the legal landscape of data privacy, encouraging compliance efforts and promoting best practices for the protection of data. We have been counting down the days to World Data Privacy Day by highlighting relevant data privacy matters around the world including international data transfer issues, new U.S. state privacy laws like the California’s Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and the potential for U.S. federal data privacy legislation, cybersecurity in light of the SolarWinds breach, and the intersection between HIPAA laws and data privacy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the enactment of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and CPRA in the past several years, and with more U.S. states and foreign countries introducing their own similar laws, it is clear that data privacy legislation is here to stay. Given the digital nature of the modern world, data privacy and cybersecurity will become even more relevant to all people and businesses in 2021. Laws such as the GDPR and CPRA recognize data privacy as a personal right of all people. These laws are changing the way businesses think about, and use, data. 2021 is likely to give rise to more data privacy laws and regulatory schemes, and may be a year in which the world sees more enforcement and greater penalties for violations of data privacy protections. 

In celebration of World Data Privacy Day, it is an ideal time to take stock of your data privacy and cybersecurity efforts. Bond attorneys in the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice assist and advise clients with an array of data privacy and cybersecurity matters. With attorneys who have extensive knowledge in different facets of data privacy and cybersecurity, our clients have the benefit of deep industry experience in a wide variety of contexts. For more information regarding the laws mentioned above or the specific compliance efforts businesses should be taking, please contact any attorney in the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice.