Data security can only be achieved by those empowered

Users of online services don’t have the ability (i.e. aren’t empowered) to secure the data stored by those services. Only the engineers and the companies that build the services can do that. So I agree with Cindy Cohn, who says:

…we need to ensure that companies to whom we entrust our data have clear, enforceable obligations to keep it safe from bad guys. This includes those who handle it it directly and those who build the tools we use to store or otherwise handle it ourselves.

In my view, business leadership and software engineers have an ethical responsibility to secure their systems and services so that customer’s data and sensitive information doesn’t get misused or abused.

I’d like it if customers had a reliable and consistent way to evaluate the quality and diligence given to keeping their data safe — something like Charity watch or Consumer Reports.