Ethical stewardship and privacy compliance are no longer optional for organizations handling user data. Breaches of trust can incur heavy fines, erode brand reputation, and harm individuals. For organizations doing business in Europe, for example, under the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organizations face penalties up to €20 million or 4 % of global turnover for non-compliance, emphasizing the high stakes of data mismanagement. Similarly, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants California residents the right to know, delete, and opt out of the sale of their personal information, with fines totaling up to $7,500 per intentional violation. At the federal level in the United States, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects student records, imposing requirements on educational institutions to safeguard personally identifiable information and empower students or parents to access and correct their records.