What to Know During Data Privacy Week

January 22-28 is Data Privacy Week! This week was created to increase awareness about privacy protection and to spread useful information every tech user should know. Keep reading to learn why data privacy is so important, and how you can help your communities and small businesses be prepared.

How does data privacy affect small businesses?

The most significant risk of not securing your business’s or company’s data is losing credibility among your clients and customers. Even if a data breach occurs and doesn’t impact a specific customer, there is still the possibility that they will have less trust in your organization. It is critical to protect your customers’ sensitive information in order to provide a sense of comfort and confidence in your business. Businesses are ethically, morally, and legally obligated to protect consumer information.

You can view this Small Business Guide to Data Protection to learn more, or search for additional resources.

Digital barriers impact AAPI communities.

In California during the fall of 2020, 26% of K–12 students and almost 40% of low-income students reported they still did not have access to reliable internet, according to a Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Survey. Racial and ethnic gaps also exist in the digital divide, with Asian households being 7.6 percentage points less likely than white households to report having internet access.

There is another element to the challenge of connecting AAPI communities with digital skills. Although efforts exist to cultivate digital literacy among AAPI populations, approximately 34% of these individuals have limited English proficiency (LEP). According to data from Asian Americans Advancing Justice in 2015, only 56% of San Francisco Chinatown residents had internet access in their homes. In contrast, the San Francisco city-wide average was 88%.

Income plays a role in the digital divide.

Digital divide indicators like limited English proficiency and income suggest that AAPI communities across the U.S. may be struggling to gain internet access or expand their digital literacy. Pew Research Center reported that 44% of adults with household incomes less than $30,000 do not have broadband. Within the same studies, it is suggested that 12 out of 19 Asian origin groups show poverty rates as high as the U.S. average. Naturally, cost plays a crucial role in gaining internet connectivity, and the poverty rates among the AAPI community likely tie directly to the challenge of gaining internet access in many cases.

Links to learn more:
The First National Strategy to Uplift AA and NHPI communities
How Internet Connectivity Play a Role in Election Season
AT&T is Bridging the Digital Divide for AAPIs

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