ITprivacy

IT privacy, or information technology privacy, is the practice of protecting the personal information that is collected, stored, processed, and transmitted by information systems. It covers technical measures, organizational policies, and legal frameworks designed to limit who can access data, for what purposes, and under what conditions, while supporting legitimate use of digital services. IT privacy applies to software applications, cloud services, mobile devices, IoT devices, and enterprise networks, as well as data analytics and artificial intelligence systems that may process personal data.

Core principles include data minimization, purpose limitation, consent and transparency, user control over personal data, security by design, and accountability. Privacy by design advocates integrating privacy considerations into the full lifecycle of systems, from requirements through deployment and decommissioning. Technical measures commonly used are encryption in transit and at rest, strong authentication and authorization, access controls, audit logging, pseudonymization, and anonymization. Privacy-preserving techniques such as differential privacy and federated learning are increasingly employed for analytics without exposing individuals.

Regulatory and governance aspects influence IT privacy. Frameworks and laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and national data protection laws establish rights for data subjects and obligations for data controllers. Data protection impact assessments, breach notification, data localization, and transfer mechanisms for cross-border data flows are common requirements. Challenges in IT privacy include balancing privacy with usability, supply-chain risk from vendors, and emerging technologies that enable large-scale data processing. Ongoing developments emphasize privacy engineering, risk-based governance, and improved transparency to users.