Organisational privacy policies exi

Organisational privacy policies exist to ensure appropriate procedures are carried out in relation to the collection, storage and dissemination of personal data. Appropriate procedures mean procedures that uphold their right to privacy in relation to that data. There are a number of ways in which such procedures can be implemented. An organisational privacy policy should document those procedures in writing, and all relevant staff should be required to familiarise themselves with it.

Personal information and data collected by any organisation must be stored securely, and kept secure while it is transmitted over the internet. Security of data is a fundamental principle that underpins privacy. There is a range of ways in which organisations can ensure that data is collected and stored securely.

Breaches of privacy in the form of unauthorised access to data can come from two types of sources – internal and external.


In global research carried out by global management consulting and technology service company, Accenture, it was found that the majority of organisations surveyed had experienced breaches of privacy (loss of personal data) and most of it came from within the organisation. The research involved two surveys, one of which surveyed 5500 business leaders in 19 countries.