U.S. health care companies overconfident about data privacy

The issue of not knowing what data a company has often arises in the context of mergers and acquisitions, particularly among those businesses that acquire smaller ones. (Photo: LeoWolfert/ Shutterstock.com)

When it comes to an awareness of what data they have and where it resides, health care organizations may suffer from overconfidence, despite experiencing the second-largest amount of cybersecurity breaches, suggests a new study on data privacy management within the industry.

Seventy percent of the survey respondents—made up of 258 top business executives and information technology decision makers within mid- to large-size U.S. companies—reported that they were “very confident” or “extremely confident” in knowing exactly where sensitive data resides. However, only half of the respondents said they update their inventory of personal data once a year or less.