The industry speaks, part 2: World Privacy Day 2026

Data privacy is becoming a more urgent business priority as AI expands how organizations collect, use, and move data. This Cyber Daily AU roundup brings together expert perspectives on what companies need to do to reduce privacy risk, strengthen security, and build trust in a more complex digital environment.

A consistent theme across the article is that privacy depends on stronger operational discipline, not just more policies or more tools. As AI adoption grows, organizations need better visibility into where sensitive data lives, how it moves, who can access it, and whether their systems are designed to reduce unnecessary exposure. Privacy, security, and resilience are closely connected, and weak data practices increase both compliance risk and customer risk.

SupportNinja CTO Ken Braatz contributes one of the clearest principles in the article: the safest data is the data you never store. His perspective reinforces the importance of data minimization in AI strategy. Companies do not need to retain highly sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers or credit card details to deliver effective AI-powered customer experiences. Reducing unnecessary data storage lowers risk while still allowing organizations to use clean, connected, non-sensitive data to improve customer experience.

To strengthen data privacy in the AI era, companies need practical governance, better control over data exposure, and a clear strategy for limiting the sensitive data they collect and retain. Organizations that reduce unnecessary risk at the data level are better positioned to protect trust, support compliance, and use AI more responsibly.