Pitch

Question 1

1: Embedding data privacy

Answer 1

Unfortunately, many businesses only have data privacy tacked onto their IT security or disaster recovery plan. But that’s not good enough because data privacy touches on so many parts of your business.

You can’t afford to treat privacy as an afterthought. It needs to be baked into the heart of your data strategy and staff training. It’s not easy, so ensure you collaborate with and get buy-in from all departments. Make sure you choose tools that support your current privacy policies, for example by making data anonymization easier.

Question 2

2: Proliferating devices

Answer 2

Data privacy becomes harder to handle when you factor in things like the Internet of Things (IOT), bring-your-own-device IT policies and proliferating internet-connected tablets, phones and watches. When you bring more devices into the workplace, you end up having more data to manage.

Your organization must be able to manage compliance and data privacy from any source, different operating systems and multiple apps. To remedy this, ensure you have the right data governance procedures in place.

Question 3

3: Increasing maintenance costs

Answer 3

Keeping your systems secure and preventing data privacy issues at the enterprise level can be expensive. But, the costs of a data breach are so significant, you need to bite the bullet and invest properly.

That’s why automating processes is so important. It helps in different ways:

Reducing the number of data silos
Eliminating points of friction and manual processing
Reducing the risk of human error
More opportunities for de-duplication
Improved governance and control
Lower costs

Question 4

4: Access control is difficult in many industries

Answer 4

Data privacy breaches are often caused by poorly managed access within an organization. People and processes matter as much as technology. Humans are the weakest link in the chain of privacy and security.

However, as distributed working proliferates, it’s harder to manage user access and secure your sensitive data. To remedy this, you need an effective data architecture and strong data governance processes.

Question 5

5: Getting visibility into all your data

Answer 5

If your organization isn’t aware of the location, nature, and sensitivity of your data, how can you possibly keep the right information private?

Using tools to discover and classify your data is essential. This will ensure you can treat data uniquely and protect your sensitive data from any privacy issues.

Question 6

Key Takeaways

Answer 6

Complete a Risk and Gap analysis
Prioritize the privacy issues and risks of the business
Document your privacy principles
Establish an operational framework
Develop metrics and reporting
Know your business controls environment
Identify & leverage key stakeholders in the business
Be prepared to quickly manage risks identified through ROPA data