In an age where data security has never had more press, it’s not surprising that businesses are looking for ways to improve their existing data protection or put new measures in place.
Data protection for business
Good data protection principles form the cornerstone of best business practice. But how do you know what they are, what they look like, and how to put them in place in your business?
To help you, we’ve outlined some of the core data protection principles your business should have in place – and why.
Transparency
In fact, this one is so important that it’s even a core part of the data protection regulation, GDPR. It requires that data be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Transparency on how you are protecting your data is critical. Its importance lies, not only in the actual security of your data but your reputation as well. Consumers are much more savvy about their data nowadays. Therefore, if you can be transparent about exactly how you’re taking care of it, they are more likely to trust you with it. This means knowing the answer to, and being willing to share information about:
- Who your data protection officer is
- What the purpose of holding data is, and the legal basis for processing it
- How long data will be stored
- The data subject’s rights in terms of access, rectification, erasure, and objection to processing, along with your processes for this
- Who will have access to the data (internal and external bodies)
If you can answer these questions and are willing to explain them to customers should they ask, then you have the basics of transparency covered and a big tick in your data regulatory compliance box.
Traceability
On the back of some of those questions comes the issue of traceability. The area of traceability is one that many businesses have been considered notoriously bad at in the past. If a customer makes a request for you to erase all data you hold on them (which they are perfectly entitled to do under GDPR), you need to be able to find and delete all of that information.
Without a system in place to trace data within your business, you may be unable to find all of a customer’s data and would be in breach of GDPR. To maintain effective data governance and security, you need to ensure you can trace every piece of data in your business. In most cases, there are software solutions out there that can do this for you, including many document management systems.
Encryption
Digital data security should be one of your top priorities for data protection. One of the best ways you can do this is with encryption. Encryption is designed to protect data. It protects data both while it moves and while it’s in a network storage system or computer. Any business that gathers personally identifiable information should include it in their data protection policy.
Through encryption protocols, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and other organisations are able to protect critical data. Examples of this critical data include personal information such as names, birthdates and social security numbers (SSNs). Stolen data can result in numerous negative outcomes such as lawsuits or regulatory fines. By implementing secure systems, you can help protect your business from these scenarios.
Without data encryption, anyone who intercepts the data would be able to read, duplicate or edit it. In this scenario, a lack of data encryption may compromise business and client security. However, with encryption, they could intercept it, but not be able to actually use it.
How Do You Get Data Protection Right?
Of course, if you’re not a data protection expert by trade, it can be difficult to figure out how to get all of that done and keep it running properly while maintaining your daily business operations. The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert to get it right – you just need an expert on your team.
At INDIGO IT, we work with businesses of all shapes and sizes. We work with you to make sure you have strong, secure data protection protocols in place. By using technology efficiently and intelligently, any business can achieve all of this and more. And, without the need for significant investment or upheaval. If you would like to find out more, just get in touch with the team today for your free consultation.