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Global privacy experts from Visa Inc., LinkedIn and several other companies and government agencies gathered this week to talk about complying with existing data privacy laws and preparing for future regulations. 

"We've really seen an ushering in across the globe of data privacy laws," Kalinda Raina, vice president and head of privacy at LinkedIn, said while opening the "Live from LinkedIn" Data Privacy Day livestream event on Tuesday in San Francisco.

Jared Ho, a senior attorney in the Federal Trade Commission's division of privacy and identity protection, noted during the talk that the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation spurred "a great push for firms to start implementing accountability programs."  

But, of course, some companies are far more adept at privacy compliance than others. Kristina Bergman, CEO and founder of Seattle-based data privacy automation firm Integris Software, shared an anecdote about a client company that acquired a smaller tech startup and failed to thoroughly examine the data it inherited as part of the deal. 

"We came in and ran a scan through their data set and said, 'Did you know you have adult content?' And the [chief technology officer] was sitting there with his jaw hanging down looking at it," she said.

Lackadaisical data policies not only endanger a company's reputation but also make firms more vulnerable to potential data privacy violations. Businesses that experience data breaches draw the attention of agencies that enforce data privacy laws. 

"In the event of a breach, you're probably also going to get hit with any privacy law violations that are in there along with that breach," Bergman said. "So you really need to get your house in order." 

At this point, companies that are trying to comply with new data privacy regulations as they emerge are behind the curve, according to John Gevertz, chief privacy officer and senior vice president at Visa. 

Gevertz and other panelists stressed the importance of weaving a culture of privacy compliance throughout a company, preferably during the startup phase. 

"Privacy is incredibly important at a cultural level as you innovate," he said.

Visa, he added, has created a "cross-functional data-use counsel with senior executives from across the business" who consider the risks of using data in new ways.

"Not only is it the legal thing to do … but is it the right thing to do? Does it embody the values that we try to get across about security, consumer control, providing value to consumers?" Gevertz said. 

Raina added that virtually every employee in a company, not just the executives and lawyers, should be thinking about privacy compliance. 

"Privacy is everybody's job," she said. 

Privacy also has become a marketing tool as consumers have grown more aware of the value of their data. Bergman said she's noticed more companies mentioning their data privacy policies during pitches to potential clients.

"It's not uncommon for us to hear companies using it as a differentiator," she said. "Oftentimes you'll hear Facebook compared to Apple in their approach to privacy and what that means in terms of consumer trust and people's willingness to share their data and put more of their lives in the hands of those companies."  

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