Data protection standards have been in place in the European Union for quite a while, but only with the recent General Data Protection Regulation will there be strict enforcement with harsh penalties for those who don’t comply. That means if your business handles personal information of EU citizens whether it be something as simple as a profile on your online shop, you must be in compliance with this regulation.
Adhering to these regulations is great for protecting the information of your consumers, but making the transition can be a bit tough, but practical steps can help ease the process. Take a look at these 7 steps for getting your organization GDPR-ready and discover how one of the best cyber security consulting firms can help you along the way.
1. Let Your Customers Know
Before you can make any changes to the way you do business, you need to make sure your customers are on board. Be transparent about the data you’re collecting from them and why you need it. If you don’t need certain pieces of data for any real reason, don’t collect it. Make sure you have a binding legal document available for your customers to outline everything about your data collection and storage.
2. Unify Your Storage
All the data you collect has to be stored somewhere. Putting it all in one place makes it much easier to manage. This can be a central storage system you company hosts or you can store it on a cloud server. Whatever source you decide on, make sure everyone in your company is briefed on the new update. At least dictate that each department only use a single storage space if nothing else.
3. Conduct an Audit
Inspect the data you’ve already collected for anything important and move it all to whatever centralized storage location you decided on. Everything you find that’s unimportant can simply be deleted.
4. Prioritize Accessibility
Under the new regulation, your customers can demand a subject access request as early as May of this year. When this happens, you are legally obligated to provide them with all the data you’ve collected on them. Make sure you’re prepared to gather and send all that data efficiently.
5. Optimize Security
You probably already have plenty of safeguards in place, but it’s incredibly important now that consumers’ data is protected. Outfit your storage system with strong passwords, encryption and plenty of other security measures.
6. Manage the Data
With all the data coming in, you need systems in place to properly tag and store what’s important and destroy what isn’t. Whether this is automated, done by staff or a mixture of both, it is essential for your business operations.
7. Remember the Right to be Forgotten
Under the new regulation, every bit of data you collect is subject to deletion should the customer request it. If a customer does make that request, fulfill it. With data centralized and accessible, erasing everything shouldn’t be a problem.
Cyber Security Consulting Firms
To properly and efficiently prepare your business up to GDPR compliance, you need the help of a cyber security consulting firm. U.S. Computer Connection has the experience and service you need to help your business maintain compliance with the new regulation. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you!