How accurate was I in 2022? I made eight predictions for 2022. Let’s take a look and see how on or off I was from the mark on each one. See here for the predictions in detail.
- The topic of “data privacy” did and did not take off like I thought it would. I may be slightly early in this prediction since there is no federal privacy law in the US. However, this year I saw many companies requesting privacy notice reviews, GDPR compliance consulting, and data privacy policies get executive-level buy-in. Mostly right now, companies are wanting to make sure their external facing privacy content is appropriate for applicable laws. As for their internal privacy controls and embedding privacy designs into systems, that is another story. Most companies are taking an “add-on” approach instead of a “baked-in” approach right now.
- Cyber insurance premiums did indeed increase in 2022. According to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, Q4 2022 premiums increased over 25% from 2021. This trend also contributed to 19 consecutive quarters of rising premiums as of Q2 2022. So for this one, I was pretty spot on.
- I predicted two or three more states would enact privacy legislation. And as per the previous prediction, I was spot on. We saw Connecticut and Utah vote to pass data privacy legislation. Connecticut’s goes into effect on July 1, 2023, and Utah’s on December 31, 2023.
- Thankfully, I was wrong about this next one. There wasn’t any JBS-level cyberattack against the global supply chain to note for 2022. Unfortunately, there’s enough strain right now on the chain and we don’t need a hack to impact it. Human greed and the need for instant gratification are enough of an impediment to achieving a more efficient chain.
- In 2022, the Intragovernmental Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act was introduced at the 117th congress. This would allow for more government organizations to share information about cyberattacks with each other. Several other acts already exist to share information, but this one is the one I had in mind when predicting 2022. However, I was guessing it would involve non-governmental organizations as well. So about half-right here. This bill is currently in review.
- Demand for data privacy skills has increased over the last year. In fact, the 2022 Data Privacy Jobs Report from TRU Staffing Partners saw a 30% increase in data privacy jobs since the same period in 2021. As more privacy legislation and community awareness of privacy rights become more prevalent, more privacy-related skills will be needed. For this one, I was correct.
- According to Fortune Business Insight, the global privacy market grew from a $1.68 billion valuation in 2021 to $2.36 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $25.28 billion by 2029. A 10x increase in only 7 years makes for a booming business opportunity for many privacy-enhancing tech companies. This area will only continue to increase as federal legislation and community awareness continue to spawn and become more relevant. I was right on this one.
- Although wearable devices are definitely a privacy concern, most companies appear to be prioritizing protecting themselves from legal action instead of their customers or products. Wearable devices should have been given more speaking space in 2022 than what I saw. They were still a topic of conversation, but not quite what I was expecting. Yes, this area is a privacy concern and privacy requirements should be at the beginning of the design process, but this didn’t appear to be as big of a priority as I was expecting in 2022. I’ll say I was off for this one.
What do you think? Was I right or wrong in my analysis? Feel to let me know!
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