The Conversations with a Business Attorney podcast is your legal guide to navigating the challenges and opportunities that arise throughout the life cycle of a business. Jeff Large, a start-up business owner, explores topics such as operator agreements, employee retention, and the value of protecting your company with Rhoades McKee Attorneys. Don’t get lost, listen and learn.
Hal Ostrow, a Technology and Cybersecurity Attorney at Rhoades McKee, discusses types of private information and how to protect your business’ data.
Three Things You’ll Learn
- The variations of privacy laws and how they impact businesses
- How agreements protect businesses and entrepreneurs when working with customers and collaborating with creatives
- Best policies and practices to have in place for when you get hacked
Private information is defined by Hal as any information about someone else that could be used to identify that person. He talks about the liabilities a company has when storing data and breaks down the system of responsibility.
Geography is a key factor in knowing the statutes and regulations your business is responsible for when it comes to managing private information. Hal talks about the purpose of legal agreements, or ‘terms of service’ being to create clear, concise communication of what is being done with private information. He explains that the agreements are on two sides for businesses—with vendors and with customers.
“This goes back to [a] recurring theme in this podcast; prevention. You want to have clear, unambiguous standards at the outset.” [20:05]
While discussing how to protect private information proactively, Hal makes it clear that a company being hacked is a “when” situation, not an “if.”
Hal lists three considerations for protecting your data: what information are you collecting, how are you collecting it, and what will happen with what you collected?
Hal walks through the different ways data is stored by companies and platforms, allowing owners to see how nuanced the process is and the importance of cybersecurity. He talks about cybersecurity with a list of best practices a business can use to protect customers and employees.
Click here to read the transcript of the full interview for Episode 6.
Listen Now! Wherever you get your podcasts:
