5 reasons you need to hire a Chief Privacy Officer

As data becomes a fundamental part of operations in nearly every industry, businesses are finding that privacy measures are becoming equally as important. Unfortunately, research suggests that businesses don't understand how vital privacy practices are and treat it an afterthought.

A study by cloud-based data protection provider Druva on the "State of Data Privacy in 2015" asked 214 people worldwide at companies with 100 to 5,000 employees how they are tackling data privacy. Of those surveyed, 81 percent reported their Business had government privacy compliance and regulation requirements to meet. However, 93 percent of companies reported that they found it difficult to ensure data privacy and 71 percent reported challenges with keeping up with regulations and compliance around privacy.

That's why many companies are considering hiring a chief privacy officer (CPO) to help shape the future of security in the enterprise. Deema Freji, global privacy officer of security services provider Intralink, stresses the importance of C-suite executives investing in a CPO in 2016. She says companies that don't take hiring a CPO seriously stand to lose their "reputation and a lot of money if they're fined and exposed." Here are five reasons, according to Freji, why you should seriously consider hiring a CPO in the coming year.

The rate at which data has become important to companies is growing as quickly as technology is changing. Businesses are starting to realize how data can revolutionize the way they operate. Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad; and the bad with data is protecting and securing sensitive information. And it's not as easy as just hoping IT will take care of ensuring data is protected, according to Freji. Businesses need to invest in privacy regulations, especially as new rules and regulations arise. For most companies, that means hiring someone who knows the ins and outs of data privacy -- like a CPO.

"The data privacy landscape is drastically changing in the next few years," says Freji, "This means that companies will need dedicated resources to work their way through pending regulations, which will be complex to say the least."

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In the coming year, Europe will have a big impact on the way businesses all around the world need to evaluate privacy.;