Operating in the global economy, businesses have to stay compliant with the standards and regulations placed by different countries if they wish to serve their customers better across the world.
If you have a digital presence or provide digitized services then you might be collecting your customers’ data through a digital platform. Every country has a regulation regarding users’ data privacy in place that companies need to adhere to if they want to conduct business on their land.
One such data regulation guidelines that businesses need to be aware of is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is the core of digital privacy legislation in Europe. If your organization is conducting business within the boundaries of the EU or is providing products or services to customers based in the EU then GDPR applies to your business and you can’t afford to ignore this.
You have to ensure that your data collection process is legal and the collected data is safely stored away from any kind of misuse or exploitation. If your company happens to violate the rules of GDPR then you might be charged with a hefty fine of up to €20 million ($23.3 million) or 4% of your company’s revenue worldwide from the last fiscal year, whatever amount is higher.
So you have to make sure that your company is adhering to the GDPR guidelines and protecting sensitive user information. Here, in this blog post, we are going to discuss 7 technologies that can help your business stay compliant with the GDPR guidelines.
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
For streamlining the management process of your business data, it is best to use standard industry network protocols and extrusion techniques. And Managed File Transfer solutions use it all. It comes with a centralized interface that enables you to transfer data automatically throughout the entire network, application, systems, organization, and cloud environments.
These files are shared securely using either MFT solutions or through its email plugins. The MFT software technology is used to encrypt the file and then deliver it to the intended recipient. At the receiving end, the recipient can read the content after decrypting it using the same technology.
MFT apps can offer a holistic view to companies for their data management processes. This helps in making sure that the personally identifiable data is collected, managed, and used securely. Full audit trails, access rights management, and data encryption are some of the most critical security-enhancing capabilities of Managed File Transfer Solution.
Automated Data Protection Processes
Now, you can automate your data protection process to obtain better visibility regarding the movement of your valuable data set inside and outside your company. The aim here is to remove all types of errors, delays, and inefficiencies that occur during a manual procedure.
Along with the enhanced visibility into the data breaches in your company, this solution can help you protect your company data from theft and data loss. If you want AI and ML technologies to work well for your business. then you must determine a standard operating procedure and technical controls to manage your data.
Consider your business model and criteria to pick a suitable solution with correct features, encryption, pseudonymization, multi-factor authentication and more to get started with automation.
Privacy Impact Assessments
Companies must use these technologies to undertake assessments to analyze what kind of impact their business decisions will have on the data privacy of the users. This helps companies by providing them with early warnings so that any kind of problem is avoided later on.
Such assessments come in handy in situations like mergers and acquisitions, geographic expansions, and new product launches. These technologies enable the companies to identify the high-risk data from the collected datasets, assess if there is any gap in the compliance efforts, if there are any concerns then remediate them and at last generate an audit trail to remain compliant.
Individual Rights Compliance
As per the GDPR, it is up to individual users to decide whether to allow companies to use their private data. And if they comply, how should they use it? To enact the data usage rights from the customers, companies have to use some sort of tool or technology that helps users either allow companies to access their data or restrict them from processing their data and data portability.
You can use such solutions to generate customized forms for every individual requesting them to enact their rights to the company. It also comes with features like alerts and notifications, and automated reporting to fulfill the requirements of the user.
These solutions also help you identify the locations where data is stored. So, when a user requests a particular set of data, you can easily fulfill it within a 30-day time limit. This won’t even interfere with your existing business operations.
Data Mapping
If a company is not implementing any kind of data management practices then it would be very challenging for them to stay GDPR compliant. Because GDPR largely focuses on justifying the scope and type of data collected as well as showing compliance promptly. The purpose behind this is to enable the companies to be data controllers instead of acting as data processors.
Using a data mapping solution will help you understand what type and scope of data your company is collecting from its customers, where it is stored, and who has access to it. Having such critical information can help you determine what kind of obligations will be applied to the data you collected based on various factors like geography and sensitivity.
Pseudonymization Technologies
As given reference in the regulation. Pseudonymization technologies will help you imply a data masking tactic. This is done by saving the information of a particular individual in separate files under different names.
So, even if a hacker got hold of the system, they can never get their hands on the complete information of the user if they steal one file or even reassemble identifiable data from multiple files.
Data Classification
The first step of data management and protection practice is data classification. It is a foundation on which data compliance is achieved. It is necessary to integrate data classification with data protection tools like encryption, rights management, DLP, and more to enhance your company’s data protection strategies.
The industry-leading Boldon James Classifier is specially designed to prevent data loss and enhance the effectiveness of DLP solutions. It might just prove to be the key to GDPR compliance.
Your workforce must also be aware of how valuable the data is that they are using. Visual labeling is used more often to spread such awareness. On the other hand, the implementation of metadata labels will provide efficient data security, data management, and retention policies.
Final Thoughts
If any kind of data breach happens with the sensitive user data that your company has collected then not only will you be charged with hefty fines, your company will lose its reputation in the market and the trust of the customers. This will have a long-term impact on the profitability of your business.
If you choose to invest in the technologies that can help you stay compliant with the GDPR guidelines then that’s profitable in the long term. These technologies can help you implement the right measures to stay secure and compliant with the guidelines.
I hope this article has been helpful to you, thanks for reading!
Author Bio:
Kaushal Saini is a web developer at a reputed web development company eTatvasoft. He loves to write technical blogs related to WordPress, Joomla and other PHP based CMS frameworks in his leisure time. You can find his bylines in many of the famous blogs.