» INSIGHT
Protecting Human Rights in the Era of Cyber Information Warfare Edwin Weijdema, Global Technologist, Product Strategy at Veeam shares why data protection and cybersecurity technologies have a role to protect the integrity of our human rights
D
isinformation is undermining the limitless potential of technology to be a positive force for industries, businesses and communities.
In the current global landscape, barely a conversation goes by without mention of “fake news” and its ability to mislead critical discourse regarding events such as elections and current affairs around the world. Combined with the fact that the definition of privacy is constantly being redefined in the age of ‘surveillance capitalism’, this means it’s a not-so-metaphorical minefield out there when it comes to safeguarding our data. In light of this, the onus is increasingly on data protection and cybersecurity technologies to protect the integrity of our human rights in the face of cyber information warfare. But businesses too must ensure they remain on the right side of using data ethically, compliantly and securely. Data Protection Day is an opportunity to explore some of the
28
CXO DX / FEBRUARY 2021
technologies leading the way in the fight against cyber (dis)information and how businesses can take up arms to protect our rights as employees, consumers, and citizens.
Data protection as a human right
Unbeknown to some, data protection is a human right. In Europe, it’s for this reason that we celebrate Data Protection Day, which this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data. Or in short – Convention 108: the treaty that spawned the first European Union-wide data protection laws, which is today covered within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Despite the significant financial and reputational damage for failing to protect this basic human right, it’s data protection, or rather a lack of, which continues to grab headlines. Fortunately, data protection and cybersecurity technologies are striving to change this.
