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Customer data is a very effective tool that your business should be taking advantage of. All of the information that you collect about customers can be used to improve your targeted marketing campaigns and create a personalized experience for the customer. However, you are responsible for keeping any data that you collect very safe. There are a number of different laws in place about data security and the rules are different depending on which industry you work in, which means that data security compliance can be very complicated. Unfortunately, you don’t have any room for mistakes because you could find yourself in some legal trouble if you don’t meet your responsibilities. If you are concerned about data protection regulations, here are some simple ways to ensure that you are compliant at all times.
Understand The Law
You can’t follow the law if you don’t understand it, so make sure that you spend some time getting to grips with the regulations and understanding which industry specific ones apply to you. For example, if you work in the medical industry, you must follow the guidelines set out by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has a different set of guidelines to follow if children use your business website for any reason. If you are selling products or services in the European Union, there is a different set of laws there as well. As our understanding of data technology evolves, governments are always updating the laws to keep up, so make sure that you are always checking for any new regulations so you don’t get caught out.
Use A Third Party Expert
Even if you understand the laws, that doesn’t mean that you are necessarily the best person to make sure that your business is compliant. If you want to be sure, you should have an it risk assessment company perform an audit of your business. If there are potential data privacy compliance problems, they will soon identify them. They will then be able to help you update your systems and processes to rectify the issues.
Create A Culture Of Security
Many people assume that cyber attacks are the main cause of data loss, but human error is a huge factor. When employees are careless with data and do not take the necessary steps to protect it, they make it easy for breaches to occur. That’s why it’s important that you create a culture of security in the business. Provide good data protection training and make sure that your employees understand just how important it is, so they don’t start to cut corners.
Put A Disaster Recovery System In Place
Even if you do everything right, there is always a chance that your systems will be breached by a cyber attack. That’s why every business needs a disaster recovery plan in place. As long as you can secure your systems and recover lost data quickly, you can limit the damage and ensure that you remain compliant.
Data privacy compliance laws can be very confusing, but if you follow these steps, you can avoid any legal pitfalls in the future.
