Data Protection Tips To Keep Customers Safe

Data Protection Tips To Keep Customers Safe

As a business owner, protecting your customers’ privacy is a crucial aspect of running a successful business. A bad reputation for leaking private information will turn loyal customers away and make it even harder to pull in new customers. Securing data privacy will show your customer base that you care about their personal information and are willing to take extra steps to protect them. Consider these data protection tips to keep customers safe.

Encrypt Everything

For any information you plan to store online, investing in encryption software is one of the best ways to keep private data safe. Encryption will take stored data and transcribe it into codes that hackers won’t be able to dissect. This way, if a bad actor does get behind your other walls of protection, none of the information they find will be of value.

Look into encryption software that will encrypt any stored information, business emails, and communications to protect every aspect of your business where private information can leak.

Install and Regularly Update Software

Your business has likely already invested in antivirus and malware protection as its first line of defense. However, if you haven’t updated your software recently, it becomes worthless. After installing malware protection, be sure never to skip an update. Sure, it’s easy to click the “install later” button repeatedly, but by doing so, you could be leaving gaps for hackers to obtain customer data.

Follow PCI Compliance

If your business handles credit card transactions, it is imperative to follow PCI compliance. PCI compliance outlines the necessary payment card industry guidelines for safely handling customer credit card information. Implementing PCI regulations is a simple way to keep your business safe and show your customers that they can trust you with their personal data.

Limit Physical Copies

Using paper forms and physical copies with customer data presents a greater risk that this information could be lost or stolen. Your business should always destroy old paperwork that you no longer need, keep necessary paper forms locked away, and consider switching to document scanning services that can transform paper copies to digital files for safekeeping.

Strong Password Selection

One of the most evident and straightforward data protection tips to keep customers safe is strong password management. Get rid of old, easy-to-remember passwords, and use longer passwords that do not hold any personal significance. Incorporate a series of characters, numbers, and symbols for the most secure protection. If your business has customer portals where the customer may store their information, require them to do the same, and impose rules for creating a new password every few months.

These tactics are vital for protecting your business’s reputation and your customers’ personal data. Securing your customer’s financial and personal data is incredibly essential in the age of hacking and cybercrimes.