Happy National Data Privacy Day! The Council of Europe agreed that January 28 should be declared European Data Protection Day back on January 28, 1981. The U.S. and Canada joined in with the Data Privacy Day holiday in January 2008. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) officially leads the Data Privacy Day campaign.

Although the purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise data privacy raise awareness, data privacy should be top of mind every day in our data-driven business landscape. Thinking of data privacy once a year is like locking your front door once a year and leaving it open for the other 364 days.

Some data privacy experts think that the day should be a marker to call upon all organizations to be transparent and publish exactly what they’re doing to safeguard their customers’ data, making Data Privacy Day an annual check-in on the health of data protection. Especially in data privacy mandated businesses, the fines associated with non-compliance are hefty — but the real reputational damage that could result from a lack of responsibility for protecting customer data can be more costly.

As a customer to another business, recognize your right to data privacy, and your ability to hold a business to accountable for data privacy negligence

As an indivudual, know the importance of your data — it is as valuable as cash. Continually reflect on who has access to your information, why they need it, and what it is being used for. Also, think before you post about yourself on social media and what it may reveal about you– hackers can gather information which they slowly accumulate on you, a form of social engineering.

For small businesses, cyber security solutions and fraud prevention tools are no longer optional. A foundation to solid data and privacy is needed — deploy a three-fold approach to manage your data: technology, process, and people.