Educating Employees on Data Security: Startups are investing in training programs to educate their employees about data security practices. A well-informed workforce is crucial in preventing data breaches caused by human error and ensures a culture of security within the organization. Startups often leverage advanced data security tools to protect their data which includes end-to-end description, intrusion detection systems, and multi-factor authentication. They also run cyber-security campaigns to underscore the essentialness of data security.

Sam Gupta, Founder and CEO at ElevatIQ states, “Technologies such as Palantir are already changing the game of data privacy, especially with government organizations where individual-centric privacy matters. Visibility of this magnitude wasn’t possible before due to technology limitations. Watch as other companies follow suit, creating a culture of transparency for consumers becoming a new norm, driving competitive advantage. This is likely to impact industries where transparency matters, such as healthcare, financial services, and insurance. Also, AI-consumption reporting is likely to evolve, where companies might use consumers’ data for their LLMs, creating demand for newer data privacy technologies.”

James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer, Qlik says, “Effective data protection today combines content with context to get a real-time understanding of what data - if any - is being shared with third-party entities and what protections are in place to prevent unauthorized data exposure”.

Deploying Data Protection Officers: Startups designating dedicated personnel, such as DPOs - Data protection officers to administer data privacy and protection practices ensure robust compliance with regulations and accountability. DPOs are responsible for monitoring data handling practices, underscoring privacy issues, and staying aware of regulatory fluctuations. These kinds of activities by startups are vital for upholding comprehensive data protection policies and strategies.

Bernard Montel, Technical Director and Security Strategist, Tenable says, “We live in a world where everything about us is data. While some information may be given willingly, other information is being captured invisibly. Consider a photograph, while you might be sharing an image of yourself, you're also revealing more than just your winning smile. An image’s metadata includes details about the camera, lens, and shooting settings, as well as information about the location and photographer. For a threat actor, those details can build a different picture of you, one that can turn you into a victim.

If you want to protect yourself from hackers, then you have to be shrewd about the information you disclose. Think about who you are sharing your personal information with. Think about what information you are sharing. Think about where you are sharing that information. Don’t invite strangers into your life by telling them all your intimate details on social channels. Think before you click. Anything that is public can be weaponised by malicious hackers.

Speaking about the Data Challenges in the Age of Generative AI, he added,

2025’s Data Privacy Day brings with it the sense of being at a crucial crossroads, particularly since Generative AI invaded our daily life.

For organisations, data is the essence of the company. It’s information about your customers, your employees, your intellectual property, your financial performance, and more. It’s the lifeblood that decisions are made on.

Data breaches can lead to mistrust and brand damage externally, while internally there is increased scrutiny from the board who are questioning the organisation’s security posture. If there’s not, there should be!

With data at the heart of everything, it would be amiss not to mention the potential disruption AI has introduced, adding another layer of risk. For organisations, controlling AI deployment usage while also identifying vulnerabilities within AI tools and AI development packages is yet another headache for the security team to worry about.

On the flip side, harnessing the potential of AI to supercharge the way we utilise data can be monumental. For example, using AI to transform our approach to security by enabling faster analysis, decision-making and guidance, cutting through complexity to stay ahead of attackers.

We’ve seen malicious actors get increasingly aggressive with their threats. Ten years ago a ransomware attack was really obvious. Today these attacks are less obvious and can go undetected for a few weeks as threat actors look to obfuscate their presence. Once they’ve extracted the information, it’s out of your control. However, while they’ve been creeping around, they could also have been laying incendiaries in case ransoms aren’t forthcoming, threatening to destroy the data which could leave your organization unable to function. In addition, threat actors are starting to harness AI to write malware for ransom ware attacks.

Every organization must take action to protect the data it relies upon to function and that it's trusted to protect. Know what is important, the attack paths that could be travelled should a threat actor gain access, then prioritise efforts to shut off these paths. It’s not rocket science but foundational security practices that will protect what matters most".

Data minimization: Startups firmly believe in the principle of data minimization. For this, they collect only the necessary data for specific purposes and needs. This lessens the risk of data breaches and guarantees compliance with data protection regulations. They focus on restricting the amount of personal data they collect from the users and utilize them carefully when needed for operations.

Akshat Jain, Co-Founder & CTO, Cyware notes, "Virtual Cyber Fusion enables end-to-end threat intelligence operation and last-mile delivery while automating entire threat response workflows across cloud and on-premise environments. With a greater emphasis on information sharing within and outside the organization, decision-makers can also help build a collective defense network wherein different industry stakeholders come together to ward off cyber threats.”

Certainly, let’s take this day as a reminder of the crucial importance of securing data and information in the digital age. Obviously, we are navigating in a robustly interconnected world where the chances of data misuse and privacy breaches are high. So, we must empower ourselves and surround ourselves with the knowledge of data privacy by prioritizing data security. Together, we can surely develop and embrace a safe and secure digital environment that respects data privacy rights and elevates responsible data management.