Data is the currency of the information age. We'd all be a lot better off if we treated data as though it were money because we'd be considerably more cautious about who we let access to it and with whom we share it. Brick-and-mortar banks physically safeguard our money with security measures like alarm systems, bank guards, and steel-walled vaults, so we feel comfortable entrusting them with our hard-earned money.
But far too frequently, we trust third parties to hold our personal information without the data equivalent of alarms, guards, and vaults. The businesses that we trust with our private data appear to be concealing it under their digital mattresses and hoping that no one breaks in while they are away.
No data currency is more private or valuable to us than our healthcare information, making it the most significant privacy risk in the United States today. The government incentivizes and penalises healthcare providers who do not use electronic medical records. The authorised electronic sharing of patient information between doctors enables for faster and more accurate patient treatment, ultimately saving lives and money.
However, if the data cannot be safeguarded, the apparent benefits do not exceed the risks involved.Policymakers felt they could regulate privacy, forcing the American healthcare system to digitise private information before it could secure security.
As a result, simply the possibility of a breach can deter people from getting the necessary medical attention. One in every eight patients, for example, compromises their health in order to safeguard their personal privacy by postponing early diagnosis and treatment and concealing other crucial information. The fear of losing control of their privacy prevents millions of people from seeking medical assistance, particularly those suffering from stigmatising diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and depression.
Electronic medical records are supposed to benefit our health, but they are instead contributing to a loss of trust in the medical profession and ultimately a more unhealthy society.
Mitigation tips
To address these dangers, numerous approaches for protecting data from unauthorised access and manipulation have been developed. In this article, we will go through the top three data security methods.
Encryption: It is a critical component of personal data security. It entails turning sensitive information into a coded format, rendering it unintelligible to anyone who lacks the necessary decryption key. Only the authorised user with the decryption key can decode and access the information.
This technology is commonly used to encrypt sensitive data during internet transmission as well as data saved on devices such as laptops and mobile phones. Furthermore, encryption technologies like AES and RSA are employed to scramble the data, making it nearly hard for unauthorised people to access it.
Backup and recovery: Data backup is an important part of data security since it ensures that data is saved in the case of data loss or corruption. Companies can quickly recover their data in case of a disaster by making copies of their data and storing them in a secure location.
Many businesses choose cloud-based storage services like TitanFile because they provide a safe and dependable way to store and restore data. Experts also recommend adopting the 3-2-1 strategy for data backup. The 3-2-1 data backup method involves making three copies of data and storing them on two local devices (the original device and an external hard drive) and one off-site (cloud-based).
Access control: It is a means of limiting authorised users' access to sensitive information. Passwords, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access control can help with this. These approaches ensure that sensitive data is only accessed by those who have the right authorisation, lowering the risk of data breaches and unauthorised access.
