CyberWire Daily The impact of data privacy on cyber. [CISO Perspectives]
Oct 28, 2025
Kristy Westphal, Global Security Director, dives into the crucial intersection of data privacy and cybersecurity. She emphasizes that privacy shouldn't be an afterthought but a core focus of security efforts. Kristy discusses the complexities of laws like the Cloud Act, encryption's real-world weaknesses, and how small businesses can comply with varying privacy laws. She advocates for solid legal partnerships and threat modeling that aligns with business impact, underscoring the pressing need for heightened privacy measures in today's digital landscape.
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Target Predicted A Pregnancy
- Kristy recounts Target's 2012 analytics that predicted a teenage girl's pregnancy before her father knew.
- The example shows how analytics can breach expectations of privacy even with benign data.
Privacy Is Situational, Not Absolute
- Privacy is increasingly situational: the data itself matters less than how it is used.
- Combining innocuous, volunteered data yields powerful predictive intelligence with privacy consequences.
Data Analytics Amplify Post-Breach Harm
- Stolen, non-regulated data can be later analyzed to target victims just like marketing does.
- This delayed-analytics risk creates liability even when sensitive stores were initially protected.