Veda Advantage calls for voluntary standards

Veda Advantage calls for businesses to adopt voluntary standards to prevent data breach

Applauds Privacy Commission guidelines, but says business needs to play its part

28 August 2007 – Veda Advantage, New Zealand’s largest credit information provider has called for businesses to adopt a more proactive approach to data governance, welcoming the Privacy Commission’s data breach guidelines as an important first step.

Estimates suggest that more content and information will be produced between 2006 and 2007 than in the history of mankind (Accenture), and in the wake of several high profile instances of data breach in the United States, data privacy and security has become a highly significant, globally debated issue.

Veda Advantage New Zealand Country Director John Roberts says, “Organisations like Veda Advantage that hold individuals’ personal data have an obligation to ensure they take the necessary steps to protect information. The Privacy Commission’s data breach guidelines are a good starting point, but the onus is on organisations to be proactive in adopting more stringent, more transparent data governance practices.”

Veda Advantage has suggested the introduction of voluntary, organisation-specific data governance standards approved by the Privacy Commission as a possible way forward. Under these standards, organisations would be required to make public the results of regular performance audits. This would make data practices more open, engendering trust in consumers and regulators that organisations are assuming greater accountability in keeping data secure.

Mr Roberts adds, “An information economy can only truly thrive when the right balance is struck between protecting individual privacy, and the free flow of information between organisations. There has to be mutual trust between businesses, consumers and regulators. We have taken an important step towards that; but it’s crucial that we now follow though on the Privacy Commission’s groundwork.”

ENDS

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