Industrial Internet needs protection and security

D&I Quarterly Q3/2015

Posted on

30 Jun

2015

Dittmar & Indrenius > Insight > Industrial Internet needs protection and security
Companies embracing industrial internet don’t always realise that in the new world the data stored in their systems always includes personal data as well. Such information can consist of, for example, a client company’s representative’s contact details, or data identifying your own company’s mechanical engineer.Information security risks also stem from the fact that industrial internet is always connected with the web. This brings on a whole new set of threats, one which you must also be prepared to face at all times.At the latest, organisations face the importance of data protection regulations when they start to determine how the responsibilities and ownership of data are divided between them.

It comes as a surprise to many that according to law, companies cannot freely use the data generated by their systems. Personal data identifying individuals cannot be owned in the sense that most people working with system development or business planning suppose.

The contracts a company makes are critical in determining what kinds of rights to data can be achieved. Thus these questions should definitely be taken into account in agreements concerning industrial internet solutions.

In the last years, legislators and public officials have noted the challenges of industrial internet both within the EU and in the US. As a result, the EU Data Protection Regulation is underway, and includes very significant regulation concerning industrial internet.

Two of the most crucial liabilities are the particular obligation to take data protection into account when designing systems (Privacy by Design) and the obligation to build data protection protocols into all information systems (Privacy by Default).

It is advised to connect these obligations closely to the planning of general user experience. Data protection is part of first-rate user experience and usability design.

Above is an excerpt of Jukka Lång’s blog published on May 15 2015.

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