Maintaining Data Security

Guests’ security in the hospitality industry, today, does not merely refer to physical safety but also involves protecting guest identity and mental peace of mind. With data breaches making headlines over the last few years the threat of misuse of stolen data has been a factor that is priority in the minds of the industry professionals. This is primarily due to two major factors: one, the hotels collect large amounts of data from their guests directly and through third parties; and two that the industry has a checkered track record in protecting guests’ personal information. There is, thus, a demand from the guests to focus strongly on data security. Though it is difficult for the hotels to escape data security threats in today’s fast moving, digitally charged environment, it is not an impossible task. With technologies that are continuously evolving to help hoteliers address their data security risks and concerns, the industry is now feeling a little relieved. Ashok Malkani takes a look at the current scenario and how the industry is tackling this issue.

- Ashok Malkani

Some years ago, in the hospitality industry, guest safety was a very simple process. The innovative happening, till about a decade ago, was only providing an in-room safe for valuables. This was mainly because, at that time, guest security involved only securing people and their physical possessions.

Now, however, hospitality industry’s business is no longer a simple one that merely involves putting heads in the bed or, organizing sleeping accommodation for the guests. Today, it is a complex process which requires hotels to find out a great deal of information about the guests. Collating that information and processing it may provide opportunities for the hotel to serve the guest more efficiently. In the new digital universe in which we live, guest data is important in a very obvious sense. Knowing who your customers are and how to communicate with them is very much part of the goodwill of a hotel.

Today, the most valuable possession of a hotel guest is not his wallet or gold jewellery or laptops and iPads but his identity. If this is not guarded, all his valuables are at risk. Hotels are often targets for identity and financial theft for several reasons. They transact business through credit cards, whose information can be target for hackers.

According to Identity Theft Resource Centre, a United States non-profit organization founded to support victims of identity theft, “The ability to connect to the Internet is an integral part of many individuals’ daily life. This has led to the increased demand for public WiFi. An unsecured wireless network, available in most hotels, is just as dangerous as leaving files of your most important personal documents on a street curb for all to see. Hackers can easily get into an unsecured wireless network and get financial information, business records or sensitive e-mails.”