You may be hearing a lot about data protection policies as of late, and it’s with good reason. It’s a topic that should be of top concern for organisations, no matter what the size. With the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which comes into effect in May 2018, your company should have a strong data protection policy in place and make sure that the policy is compliant with the new requirements. With the introduction of stricter requirements within the GDPR, now is the time to ask – how effective is our current data protection policy?
An ineffective data protection policy can leave your company open to a large number of risks. These risks can include – data breaches, reputational damage, potential liabilities and loss of revenue. However, when an organisation has a clear, effective data protection policy a number of benefits can be experienced. So, let’s take a look at some of the benefits –
Secures Data from Data Theft – With an effective data protection policy in place, naturally, your organisation will have a high standard when it comes to securing data. Encrypted data and efficient data management processes can prevent your organisation from being breached, which can save your company money.
Improved business management – An effective data protection policy aids in improving the management and storage of information. In turn, this can have a knock-on effect on your company’s business practices and improve business management throughout the organisation.
Offers peace of mind to your customers – By having a data protection policy that complies with GDPR your customers know their data is safe and being handled properly. For this reason, they may be more incline to share their information with you. This can also aid your organisation in improving customer relationships.
How can your organisation improve its data protection policy?
In order for your company to experience these benefits there are a few steps you can take to improve your data protection policy.
1. Continuous Assessment – Technology is constantly causing the industry to change and evolve, with this comes regular changes to industry laws and standards. In order to stay on top of things it’s important that your organisation continuously assesses and updates your data security policies to make sure they’re sufficient. As well as this, regular training for employee’s in relation to these policies is key to ensuring an effective, up-to-date data protection policy.
2. Manage your data the right way – When collecting and storing data your organisation should make sure you’re not storing unnecessary data. Why? Because the more data you have, the more risks your organisation is vulnerable to. Your security policies should also take the disposal of data that is no longer needed into consideration. Having proper disposal methods in place will reduce your company’s risk of exposure when it comes to getting rid of the data you no longer need.
3. Have an Incident Response Plan ready to go! – No matter how secure we think we are, companies are always vulnerable to a data breach or an unexpected loss of data. To save your organisation both time and money it’s best to be prepared. Comprising an in-depth Incident Response Plan is the best way your organisation can counter-act a breach and keep your business processes from being interrupt.
By following these steps, your organisations will have to ability to perform at a much higher standard. As well as this, with an effective data protection policy, you can enable your employees to understand how data protection applies to their role within the organisation, thus, improving their performance too. For more information on how your company can change/improve your Data Protection Policy, find out more about our GDPR Readiness Assessment
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