privacyschending

Privacyschending is de term in Dutch voor een privacy breach of privacy violation. It describes any incident that compromises the privacy rights of individuals, typically involving unauthorized access to, disclosure of, or processing of personal data. It can affect individuals, organizations, or communities and may result from human error, technical failure, or intentional wrongdoing.

Common forms include data breaches (unauthorized access to databases), data leaks (unintended exposure of information), misconfigurations (insecure cloud storage), lost devices, phishing and insider threats, and surveillance overreach.

In the European Union, privacy breaches fall under data protection law such as the GDPR (AVG in Dutch). A personal data breach is defined as a security incident leading to accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access to personal data. Organizations must report to the supervisory authority within 72 hours when possible and notify affected individuals when there is a high risk to rights and freedoms; penalties can include fines and civil claims.

Response and prevention: establish an incident response plan, segment networks, encrypt data, enforce access controls, perform data minimization and regular audits, monitor systems for unusual activity, train staff, and require vendors to meet security standards. Breach notices should be clear and include steps for affected individuals to mitigate harm.

Impact and examples: Privacy breaches can cause financial loss, identity theft, stigma, reputational damage, and loss of trust. Notable cases include the 2017 Equifax data breach and the 2018 Cambridge Analytica controversy highlighting how data misuse can infringe privacy across large populations.