Data Privacy Week 2025

Data Privacy Week – a way to secure your organization

It is a new year, which means the calendar is full of more or less useful happenings. Nowadays, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, easter, and other traditional special days (depending on who you are, of course) are getting competition from Star Wars Day (May 4th), Pi Day (March 14th), and outliers like Frankenstein Day (August 30th) and even Dentist’s Day (March 6th).

Naturally, IT and cybersecurity have their days as well. These days are made to raise awareness of different topics, hopefully leading to an easier and more secure digital life. We just passed Change Your Password Day (January 20th), and now we are entering Data Privacy Week Data Privacy Week (January 27-31st), with the highlight in the middle of the week on January 28th with Data Privacy Day.

Why is there a data privacy day, let alone a week?

If you are wondering, you have come to the right place. The National Cybersecurity Alliance organizes Data Privacy Week to raise awareness of data privacy matters and, in its words, “empower and educate individuals and organizations to respect privacy, safeguard data, and enable trust.”

The Data Privacy Day has more or less the same scope.

This year’s Data Privacy Week theme is “Take control of your data”.

What could I, as an individual, do during this week?

As mentioned, Data Privacy Week is aimed at both individuals and organizations. The National Cybersecurity Alliance has several articles that can help individuals better control their personal data.

Since everything we do online, with our phone or computer, generates tons of data. It is hard to keep track of everything, and it is a daunting task to know how you can do anything about it.

That is why there are data protection laws, such as GDPR. You have the right to know what data companies store about you and even the right to be forgotten if you wish for that data to be deleted. Doing a little to take control of your own data could go a long way, which is why this week exists.

What could my organization do during this week?

Organizations generate much more data than individuals. Files are created, logs are kept of everything that happens, and data is sent to others, which generates even more data.

Controlling organizational data is a bit more challenging, but it is all the more important. Here are a few pointers you could consider.

Logs. Regulations like NIS2 require you to keep track of everything in your system to be compliant. To stay compliant, make sure you use services that produce sound and usable logs. SAP users can also sign up for our Experttalk on SAP compliance.
Security. If your organization has not implemented a zero-trust initiative yet, start looking into it. Not only does it make compliance with regulations much easier, but it also highlights access rights throughout your system. Make sure only the right people have access to the data they need. That way, you will be in better control of your data.
On-premises. Having your data on-premises means that you are in complete control of it. However, it also means you need a solid foundation for securely accessing it. Enabling secure remote access to your on-premises infrastructure and securing everything with passwordless multi-factor authentication solutions is a great start to ensure your data stays within your control.
Educate. Employees and decision-makers alike need continuous training in data privacy, data handling, and why this matters for the organization's security.

These are just a few examples, but they highlight why data privacy matters and why special days and weeks like this exist. You are not supposed to “fix” everything during this week, but if you become a little bit more aware of the situation, the week has served its purpose of creating a more secure world with better control over its own data.

Feel free to contact us if you need help protecting your data, whether on-premises, in transit, or elsewhere. We will assist you.