It might sound hilarious, but the U.S. Congress passed a bill that states that January 28 is the Data Privacy Day. On the other hand, many U.S. agencies and non-government organizations saw in Data Privacy Day an opportunity to warn people that their personal information is at risk as long as they are not aware of the damage that cyber-thieves can do.

Authorities and other organizations in Canada, the U.S. and several countries in Europe sent emails or held press conferences in which they stated that customers have to be educated on how to protect their data better. Moreover, letters from data privacy advocates were sent to the White House, as it is a well-known fact that President Barack Obama has always showed his interest over the potential that the Internet has.

In a letter to the Obama Administration, the director at the World Privacy Forum, Pam Dixon, suggested that the Federal Trade Commission should gather all internet-based personal data theft cases in the U.S. Moreover, she stated that the authorities should obligate companies that hold data about their customer’s identity and activity to report every information robbery to the commission.

In addition, even executives at big companies realized the risk of leaving sensitive information unsecured. As an example, the employees at a pharmaceutical corporation were sent an email that suggested them to erase old emails that contain personal information, along with shredding old documents.

However, it is clear that no matter what the agencies and the NGOs do to reveal the risk of personal data theft, it all depends on whether users realize how important it is to make sure that nobody infringes their privacy on the web.