Discovering data privacy: A compliance approach can help to reduce cyber risks
Data privacy compliance in the legal realm is more than simply adhering to government requirements.
Organizations must adopt strong data security policies and practices to help prevent serious occurrences such as data security breaches impacting consumers and workers. Having strong data privacy policies and practices also helps to avoid future data security litigation and regulatory inquiries. If an organization can avoid data security problems, it can gain considerable reputational benefits.
Your legal team must be aware of your responsibilities to protect consumer and employee personal data given the evolving threat landscape. You must comprehend the danger of failing to meet those requirements, as well as the security steps required to fix any flaws.
Privacy compliance challenges in today’s legal environment
According to Statista, there were 1802 total data breaches in 2022, Meanwhile, over 422 million people were affected by data intrusions in the same year, including data breaches, theft, and disclosure. While these are three distinct occurrences, they share one feature. An unauthorised threat actor has access to sensitive data as a result of all three instances.
Companies that handle data outside the United States must safeguard against foreign data breaches. According to a Ponemon Institute survey, 42% of US firms have not taken efforts to prepare for an international data breach.
Private data violations are more common in some industry sectors than others. This is defined by the type and volume of personal information stored by organisations in these areas. Healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing were the three industry sectors with the highest data breaches in 2022. In recent years, the amount of healthcare data breaches in the United States has steadily climbed. Data compromise incidences nearly doubled in the banking industry between 2020 and 2022, while they more than tripled in the manufacturing sector.
Many legal and compliance departments in the United States are unfamiliar with the complexities of data privacy regulations or how to comply. Furthermore, as rules become increasingly numerous and expansive, the chances of penalties for noncompliance skyrocket.
An international effort
Europe took over the top position in terms of privacy and data protection. The GDPR as a whole imposes severe penalties on companies that fail to comply, including the unauthorized use and disclosure of personal data. The Personal Data Protection Law of Argentina, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Australia’s Privacy Act are examples of nations with stringent data protection regulations. Depending on the industry and type of data, there are a variety of federal and state privacy laws in the United States.
Legal and compliance teams must decide which state, national, and international rules and regulations apply. Where do you even begin?
Set up a systematic compliance strategy for your company or group
A good framework that ensures data privacy for your clients and staff will include the following components:
- Having an Overall Compliance Strategy
Many businesses lack a thorough, integrated, quantifiable, and unified strategy for data privacy compliance. This is accomplished by establishing a high-level set of principles and documents outlining the steps the organization will follow with regard to personal data (as defined by applicable legislation). All relevant stakeholders and organizational areas must be represented.
- Having Compliance Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
Nobody can be an expert in the plethora of regulations that must be followed. One alternative is to assign and teach SMEs to be experts in specific legislation, such as HIPAA or GDPR. This technique ensures that there is a single point of contact for developing legally compliant policies and practices. Dedicated SMEs can be the driving force behind all compliance documentation in your region.
- Assessing and Inventorying Personally Identifiable Information (PII), or Sensitive Personal Information (SPI)
When collecting personal data, it must be identifiable and marked. and businesses must provide a way to track it. This will assist you in locating and protecting personal data in compliance with legal and suggested standards.
- Establishing Data Protection Policies and Procedures
To ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability, a privacy-compliant company has strong technical, physical, and administrative safeguards in place. This includes the capacity to detect and prohibit unwanted or unlawful data access. To face emerging risks, information security must be constantly analyzed, monitored, and updated. Data sharing must also be subject to stringent restrictions and policies.
- Develop a Response Strategy and Plan
Despite strict adherence to compliance requirements, no system is perfect. Cyberattacks and data breaches continue to outwit even the most sophisticated systems. An effective data breach response strategy and escalation process can reduce the consequences of an intrusion. Employees in charge of breach response should be taught these strategies and how to use escalation channels. As proactive preventive steps against a similar incident, the remedial activities in the reaction plan must be done and documented.
- Keeping Proper Compliance Documentation
Compliance plans and processes must be meticulously recorded. To host and track all papers, reports, and records, content management solutions such as Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and others are available. An individual who is solely responsible for document security and compliance is excellent.
- Guaranteeing Proof of Compliance
It is not sufficient to know that you are data privacy compliant. You must be prepared to demonstrate your compliance in response to external or internal enquiries. Compliance should be easily accessible and verifiable due to reports and documentation. Your organization should have a mechanism in place for reporting noncompliance, as well as an escalation path that is well established. Consistent adherence to confidentiality standards should be demonstrated by adequate monitoring, auditing, and control implementation.
Considerations for data privacy compliance in the future
New features of the technology and business landscape are emerging that will exacerbate the problems associated with protecting personal data. Controls and management will be hampered by big data and its massive datasets. International data flows have expanded at an exponential rate, necessitating the implementation of new security measures in networks and Internet infrastructure. Tighter consent requirements are on the legal and regulatory horizon. Individuals will have more say over how and when their personal data is utilized. Many US-based companies are still trying to figure out how the GDPR applies to them and what new technologies they need to be compliant. Businesses should Implement Practical Law tools to understand the legal environment that affects personal data and adopt a thorough compliance strategy.
