Data privacy, also called information privacy, is the aspect of information technology (IT) that deals with the ability an organization or individual has to determine what data in a computer system can be shared with third parties. Privacy concerns exist wherever personally identifiable information or other sensitive information is collected and stored – in digital form or otherwise. Improper or non-existent disclosure control can be the root cause for privacy issues. Data privacy issues can arise in response to information from a wide range of sources, such as: 1.Healthcare records 2.Criminal justice investigations and proceedings 3.Financial institutions and transactions 4.Biological traits, such as genetic material 5.Residence and geographic records 6.Ethnicity 7.Privacy breach 8.Location-based service and geolocation Data privacy is focused on the use and governance of personal data—things like putting policies in place to ensure that consumers’ personal information is being collected, shared and used in appropriate ways. Security focuses more on protecting data from malicious attacks and the exploitation of stolen data for profit. While security is necessary for protecting data, it’s not sufficient for addressing privacy. The challenge in data privacy is to share data while protecting personally identifiable information. The fields of data security and information security design and utilize software, hardware and human resources to address this issue. As the laws and regulations related to Data Protection are constantly changing, it is important to keep abreast of any changes in the law and continually reassess your compliance with data privacy and security regulations. Organizations that don’t “do privacy” right are at risk—of government enforcement, class action lawsuits, financial ruin, damaged reputation and loss of customer loyalty. Privacy is now a necessity of doing business.