Almost every day we see headlines about privacy or personal and financial info and data security issues in either the public or private sectors. Leaks or theft of such info are costly in terms of revenue and reputation.
One preventative measure is to have and enforce appropriate policies:
* Internal - e.g. what customer and other info employees can access) and
* External - customer lists and information, what you can keep and what you can't keep, technology and other suppliers handling confidential or other high risk info. Appropriate policies can help to create a privacy culture in your business.