Legal activity related to employee privacy to spike 100% in 2021: Forrester

The transition of companies to the new normal, amid changing customer expectations and economic uncertainty, is expected to have a significant impact on cybersecurity and privacy segments, among others. 

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based market research firm Forrester, in a 2021 outlook report for the privacy sector, said that employee privacy-related regulatory and legal activity is set to increase 100% in the next year.

“We predict that in the next 12 months, regulatory and legal activity will double and overwhelm organisations that fail to take a thoughtful approach to employee data — one that respects and protects employee privacy,” senior analyst Enza Iannopollo said in the report.

Companies must develop a privacy-by-design approach to initiatives that require the collection, processing and sharing of personal data, Iannopollo said.

Read: Data security and privacy in the age of data-driven decisions

Additionally, one in every four CMOs will invest in technology to collect zero-party data, even as digital advertising is on the brink of major systematic changes, the report said. In 2021, CMOs will begin to make strategic revisions to their ecosystems and 25% of them will increase their capabilities to collect zero-party data, it said.

“Values-based customers increasingly look to share their data with companies that embrace privacy as a value and treat data ethically. On top of it, the death of the third-party cookie forces companies to focus more on collecting data directly from customers and rely less on more risky third-party data,” she said.

Watch: McAfee India MD Venkat Krishnapur on the changing cybersecurity threat landscape

Separately, principal analyst Heidi Shey, in a Forrester report predicting cybersecurity trends for 2021, said that funding for non-US cybersecurity companies is set to increase by 20%.

“Startup creation is increasingly a source of national pride and investment in Europe and Asia Pacific. Moves by the EU Commission to promote its digital sovereignty and further economic protectionism in Asia will result in increased funding for regional cybersecurity firms,” she said.

Read: Indian cos saw over 25% jump in cyber threats since the start of lockdown: Cisco

Therefore, multinational firms must be open to partnering with multiple startups based on the regions they serve in, instead of having a single sourcing approach towards cybersecurity. 

“Develop a startup scouting capability to identify promising new regional security technology, build an adaptable procurement and sourcing plan to obtain them,” Shey said, adding that standard security guidelines would bring consistency among disparate vendors.

A chief information security officer (CISO) from a global 500 firm would be fired for instilling a toxic security culture, the report added, without divulging further details.

Social media will amplify concerns that companies disregard, and 2021 will be a “year of reckoning for leaders who tolerate and ignore hostile cultures,” she said in the report. CISOs must invest in improving empathy and people management skills, the report added.