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Data Privacy Day 2026 highlights the global need to safeguard personal information. Explore its history, theme, significance and practical tips for data protection.
Data Privacy Day 2026 highlights awareness and tips for protecting personal digital information.
Data Privacy Day 2026: Every time you update your social media, book a flight ticket or send money to your family using digital mobile applications, you are sharing a piece of your personal information. Data such as names, addresses, health reports, and financial details are part of personal information that requires strong protection from unauthorised access.
Data Privacy Day is marked globally every year on January 28. It is an international effort to empower individuals and encourage companies to respect privacy, safeguard data, and build trust among their users.
Data Privacy Day 2026 Theme
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has set the theme for Data Privacy Day as “Prioritize privacy by design.” This is an excellent way to raise awareness among individuals about handling their personal information with care and to reflect on the company’s approach to privacy.
Data Privacy Day 2026: History
Established by the Council of Europe in 2006, Data Protection Day commemorates the anniversary of the 1981 signing of Convention 108, the world’s first legally binding international treaty on data protection. What began as a single day of observance has since expanded into a week-long initiative in the U.S. and Canada, aimed at raising broader awareness about data privacy and protection.
Data Privacy Day 2026: Significance
The moment your browsing history, messages, emails, and calls are accessed without your knowledge and even at times misused, this is a breach of privacy. Many such situations even lead to scams involving hefty amounts of transactions and more.
The need of the hour is safeguarding your information while visiting an array of websites, and agreeing to tick the boxes only after thoroughly verifying the company’s extent of collecting, storing, and sharing data.
Tips To Protect Your Data
Following these simple steps can help you protect your personal data from digital scams.
- Secure your accounts: Instead of using the same password for multiple accounts, you must create strong passwords and keep upgrading them once in a while. This will prevent hackers from accessing other accounts even if one site gets compromised. Meanwhile, if you tend to forget your passwords, try using “passphrases” instead of numbers.
- Turn on extra protection: Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) provides an additional layer of protection for your private data. Usually, the key (code) is sent to your phone number, and you can only log in to your email, social media, and financial apps with a fingerprint scan.
- Review your app permissions: The moment we download any application or land on certain websites, we are asked for our location, access to our contacts list and many other such permissions. Due to the hurry at that particular time, we might also miss certain prohibited actions. This is why it is recommended to regularly review the permission settings on our phones.
- Use secure networks: Using free Wi-Fi at railway stations, hospitals, or restaurants can potentially lead to multiple scams. Hence, during sensitive transactions, it is important to turn off Wi-Fi and use your mobile data plan.
- Don’t fall for lucrative scams: Always think and rethink before opening suspicious links or attachments. Try to differentiate between emails and SMS send by legitimate companies and various phishing accounts floating around.
Data Privacy Day 2026: Global Awareness
A list of events is organised worldwide throughout the year to raise awareness about data privacy. In addition, participating in targeted hashtag campaigns can help promote responsible data-sharing practices and foster greater awareness of proper data handling.
As digital technologies evolve, people must begin addressing the new challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and connected devices. Businesses, too, can play a crucial role by empowering customers with practical security measures such as strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
Promoting transparency, ensuring regulatory compliance, and embedding privacy into systems and everyday practices are essential to recognising the importance and vulnerability of personal data in today’s digital economy.
January 28, 2026, 07:40 IST
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