Data Privacy: Why It Should Be A Priority For Businesses?

By Author: Abdul Saleem
Total Articles: 115
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In today's digital economy, data is an incredibly vital asset for businesses. They have been collecting, processing, storing, and deleting data like never before. Against this backdrop, data privacy and data security have assumed huge significance.

Several data privacy regulations have been enacted, and many are in the offing. SOX, CCPA, HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS are just a few of the comprehensive regulations. These mandate businesses to deal with data in a responsible and accountable manner, failing which, companies may have to pay fines in millions.

Since the second half of 2019, a significant increase in the number of cyberattacks worldwide has been evidenced. In 2019, organizations like Marriott Hotel Group, Equifax, British Airways, etc. paid settlements in millions for data breaches.

Therefore, businesses today often run the risk of inadvertently violating these data privacy regulations, as their security measures do not match the ever-evolving cyber risk landscape.

ERP data security and data privacy have become key watchwords for businesses. They need strong information security policies and ...
... practices that secure their data from malicious or unauthorized use.

Data privacy and data security

Data privacy is all about whether data is collected, stored, processed, and disposed of legally. It includes the policies and processes that dictate how data is collected, shared, and used in your business.

On the other hand, data security (e.g., ERP data security) protects the data from being maliciously accessed or used.

Data privacy risks

When enterprises collect, process, and store personal data or personally identifiable information (PII), they encounter numerous data privacy risks. Some of the most basic vulnerabilities and risks include the collection and storage of too much personal information, unauthorized use of personal data, vulnerable applications and insufficient ERP data security, lack of transparency regarding data collection and usage, and sharing of data with third parties, etc.

Implementing a data privacy compliance program

To consistently adhere to data privacy regulations, you need a data privacy policy and a data privacy compliance program. Below are the steps to create and implement a compliance program on data privacy.

1. Determining data privacy regulations that apply to your business

If you do not have internal data privacy experts, you will want to consult with external legal experts and consulting firms to help you determine which data privacy regulations apply to your business and how the regulations can be met.

2. Establishing a data privacy policy

As you start building your data privacy policies and procedures, the first thing your business needs to understand is exactly what your data privacy policy needs to address. Start by understanding clearly who you are selling and marketing to.

3. Implementing data privacy &cybersecurity frameworks and auditing procedures

When it comes to ERP data security and data privacy, you should not do any guesswork. Several well-respected and well-adopted cybersecurity and data privacy compliance standards are on the market at this time. These compliance standards and audit procedures (e.g., SOC 2, NIST 800-53, ISO 27001) provide detailed catalogs of privacy and security controls that could be put in place by businesses to secure their customers' data and ensure data confidentiality.

4. Conducting internal audits

Having internal auditing practices in place is crucial for businesses that comply with multiple cybersecurity and data privacy regulations. Putting dedicated professionals in charge of auditing your compliance processes and giving them access to the right tools is the best way to identify possible problems and prevent disasters like a significant data breach from occurring.

5. Keeping detailed records of compliance activities

One way of protecting your company from the legal consequences of non-compliance (e.g., fines and penalties) is to keep detailed records of your compliance activities. Being able to demonstrate compliance quickly can save a considerable sum of money for your business.

Even after having a compliance program in place, there is always the risk of a data breach or other violations. Having detailed records of your compliance efforts ready at your fingertips will help you prove that you are taking this risk seriously and actively working to mitigate it.

Data privacy is critical to the survival of all modern businesses, and leaders of organizations should incorporate data privacy into all processes or policies that affect consumer data within their enterprises

Appsian One of the leading ERP data security,compliance,implementation solutions provider that gives organizations to complete control and visibility over their ERP data.