Software Development and Privacy Principles

Confidentiality of information and data to be used in the software to be developed is an issue that needs to be addressed at the zero stage of the project. The client company should know that it will have to invest in management processes and information protection. Otherwise, difficulties and serious problems cannot be avoided. As artificial intelligence systems become an integral part of our daily lives, the line between acceptable use of data and invasion of privacy is becoming blurred. The trust of those using the software can be lost in an instant.

Hacking, non-compliance with privacy policies, security breaches and data loss can all lead to business problems. The general principles of data protection were first discussed in 1990. Security, privacy and data protection issues cannot be solved in a few lines of code.

7 privacy principles
Privacy is the strong protection of personal information. IT companies must follow privacy principles when developing software. There are seven in total:
Proactive approach:

• prevention rather than cure
• Privacy by default
• Privacy - built in by design
• Full functionality: privacy and security
• End-to-end security - lifecycle protection
• Process Visibility and Transparency
• Respect for user privacy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) products have added another layer of complexity to privacy issues. Now software developers must assure customers and users that privacy is not an afterthought, but a primary element. Yemat EOOD integrates privacy principles into the development life cycle (SDLC) of all the company's products. How does this happen? Let's take a closer look at each stage.

1- Design phase (initial design, architecture, research and requirements definition)
In the design phase, potential privacy risks are assessed and algorithms to address them are considered. Data collection should be kept up to date and minimised. Users and customers should be reassured that the software includes systems to protect their data by default. Discussing privacy issues during the design phase is a psychologically necessary step.

2- Development phase (software development and unit testing)
During software development, you must achieve full functionality and end-to-end code security, while strictly adhering to privacy principles. Any tools or libraries included must also comply with these standards. The implementation of privacy principles should not affect the operation of the software. Encrypted protocols should be used, database security should be considered, and a system for anonymising data early in the processing pipelines should be implemented.

3- Testing (final development and integration testing)
The product should include information about its privacy policy, clearly describing what information it collects, how it uses that data and to which third parties it discloses it. Testing should include verification that data use is transparent and that there are no hidden processes.

4. Deployment (completion of testing and deployment to production)
During this phase, the software under development must be regularly updated to ensure end-to-end security and to address vulnerabilities. Threat modelling and penetration testing help to identify potential vulnerabilities during software deployment. If the code is updated, this should be done on a regular basis.

5. Post-deployment (ongoing operation and maintenance)
Once the software is released, user complaints about privacy issues should be monitored and addressed on an ongoing basis. Storage systems and data pipelines should be designed to minimise data storage and deletion failures. Users should be assured that their data will not be kept longer than necessary and that they can quickly delete it if they wish. At this stage, data deletion protocols should be implemented and an algorithm should be put in place to verify them. These protocols form part of effective data management.

Emat EOOD: Pay attention
When developing software, it is important to consider how and at what intervals outdated or inactive customer records will be deleted. The software customer must be aware that the level of protection for systems that store sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, will be different from a security system that only collects email addresses. Yemat Bulgaria provides the customer with several options to protect the architecture being developed from vulnerabilities at the software design stage. We find out if it is necessary to store information in an encrypted format. We determine who will have access to the data and to what extent.