Privacy trends 2011
Challenges to privacy programs in a borderless world

Introduction
For years, the  xed boundaries of an of ce’s four walls have, for the most part, enabled companies to
manage the privacy of the data they keep. But in an era of anytime, anywhere access to information,
these traditional boundaries are disappearing. It is a new world — technology-driven, ever-connected,
globally extended and well beyond the scope of conventional privacy protection approaches.
In Borderless security: Ernst & Young’s 2010 Global Information Security Survey, 81% of executives
interviewed indicate that managing privacy and protecting personal data is very important or important
to their organization. And no wonder: highly publicized incidents of data leaks or identity theft pose
huge brand and reputation risks for businesses — a concern survey participants ranked even higher than
privacy protection (84%).
As a result, executives are investing more money to protect the privacy of personal information — to
respond to ever-increasing government regulation and enforcement and to stem the rising tide of
risk. But are they spending it in the right places? With parts of the global economy still limping toward
recovery, executives continue to ask this burning question as they search for the right balance between
spending on privacy protection and taking appropriate levels of risk to manage costs.
One thing is certain: technological advances will only continue to accelerate, and organizations need
to be ready. While governments are stepping up regulation and enforcement, privacy protection lacks
international cohesion. It is a compliance patchwork with levels of consistency that vary from country
to country and industry to industry.
Organizations do not have time to wait for global regulatory bodies to reach consensus. They need to
take action now to proactively develop and implement enterprise-wide privacy protection strategies that
match the organization’s risk pro le. By looking upon privacy strategies to drive regulation rather than
the other way around, companies can meet today’s needs and also anticipate tomorrow’s challenges.