Protecting organisations from personal data breaches

Abstract

Gigabytes of personal data are stored electronically by businesses, governments, universities, hospitals, and organisations on their customers, citizens, students, patients, and employees respectively. These personal data include social security numbers (or identity card numbers), names, addresses, dates-of-birth, driver's licence numbers, credit card numbers, medical histories, phone numbers, and email addresses. Unfortunately, organisations view personal data as valuable assets and often keep them indefinitely. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.