Top Cyber Protection Acts That Will Help You Keep Yourself Cyber Safe

BPB Online
3 min readJul 18, 2022

--

With millions of data breaching stories, we definitely want to make sure that personal data is secure. Regulations have gotten stricter. How many of us like regulations? I’m sure most of us don’t, but if we answer this question honestly, we definitely will agree with the benefits these regulations have done to us. As more and more people sought out to use internet services and products, the way we look at these services is also changing. Now, even though the risk of e-threats is augmenting, privacy laws both from the side of private institutions and government organizations are becoming more and tighter. People are becoming more circumspect as to how, when, and where to use the powers of the internet. The government is also playing a very crucial role in this since, without tube interference of the government, the number of cyberattacks would have taken over the world.

As more and more adept techniques at breaching into a computer network or system come up every day, regulations to prevent these breaches are coming to power slowly and strengthening the white hat community.

A big shout out to government agencies for initiating laws to prevent cyber theft! Here are a few acts that were passed for cyber protection:

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA): The law was formed in 1986 and still remains absolutely the same without any changes and amendments made to it. According to the law, the US government has the right to access data online. Companies are required information from the government in order to ensure transparency in the system. The ECPA has the right to notify when the government is allowed to use GPS tracking via cell phones.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA): CFAA makes it illegal to hold or access digital data from being shared. The act is said to be extremely restrictive and was passed in the late 1980s.

Cyber Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act (CISPA): Regulations’ regarding this act were introduced in the year 2011 but, was later reintroduced in the year 2015. The act is a modification to the National Security Act of 1947. The main motto is to educate people on how to share potential information by following proper ethical and safety guidelines.

General Data Protection Act (GDPR): The GDPR was established with a lot of promises. The act came into effect on 25th May 2018. It was deliberated to synchronize privacy and data protection laws across Europe. It was intended for EU citizens to comprehend how their personal information was used, and to file a complaint if their rights were violated.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI — DSS): The PCI-DSS has established a set of security protocols. It is intended with the purpose to ensure that all organizations that accept, process, or transmit credit card data maintain hygiene.

Health Insurance and Portability Act (HIPAA): The HIPAA of 1996 was established to safeguard the sensitive information of patients. It ensures that no information about the patient will be disclosed without the consent and knowledge of the patient.

California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA): CCPA provides consumers to opt-out of sales, and to access and delete their personal information. It is a new strategic priority by organizations to improve consumer relations.

I.T. Act 2008: The Indian parliament approved the law in 2008 it came into power a year later. The act was an important addition to the use of Information Technology. It was created for the advancement of the IT industry, to promote e-commerce and e-governance, and to mitigate e-threats.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): The act to date has seen a lot of modifications as it was jotted down in 2000 and further modified and changed a bit in 2012. The act was finally executed in the year 2013. The act pertains to websites that track down information of children under the age of 13 and which need to comply with the Federal Trade Commission.

Being aware of what are the data laws which promise to protect user data is important. It is not just compulsory for small businesses and MNCs but also for social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. to ensure the proper handling of these laws.

Hope this was helpful.

--

--

BPB Online
BPB Online

Written by BPB Online

Enabling IT Students, Professionals & Developers by creating a 360˚ learning experience — Books | eBooks | Video Tutorials | Articles

No responses yet