How significant is human error as a cause of privacy breaches? An empirical study and a framework for error management

Privacy breaches and their regulatory implications have attracted corporate attention in recent times. An often overlooked cause of privacy breaches is human error. In this study, we first apply a model based on the widely accepted GEMS error typology to analyze publicly reported privacy breach incidents within the U.S. Then, based on an examination of the causes of the reported privacy breach incidents, we propose a defense-in-depth solution strategy founded on error avoidance, error interception, and error correction. Finally, we illustrate the application of the proposed strategy to managing human error in the case of the two leading causes of privacy breach incidents. This study finds that mistakes in the information processing stage constitute the most cases of human error-related privacy breach incidents, clearly highlighting the need for effective policies and their enforcement in organizations.