Data privacy is a frontline issue for consumers and businesses alike these days. For the consumer, data privacy means protecting their personal information and financial health. One bad decision with a simple online purchase can lead to disastrous results for an individual or family, sometimes resulting in damaged credit or even worse – bankruptcy. The stakes are just as high for businesses when it comes to securing information. Customer expectations are shifting around data privacy, for one. Year over year, more and more consumers are stating that they must fully trust a company with their personally identifiable information (PII) before doing business with them. As such, organizations are stepping up to ensure data protection and privacy for their customer base in efforts to drive conversions, increase revenue, and maintain the integrity of their brand. Data privacy involves an additional, crucial layer— compliance. Compliance is especially important in highly regulated industries.
Staying in Compliance
Companies in regulated sectors not only need to consider data privacy from the consumer’s perspective but also need to address compliance demands required by their industries. Companies working in Finance or Healthcare, for example, are held to a much higher bar when it comes to data security and privacy and must undergo intense audits to ensure that they are in compliance.
In the financial space, the Gramm Leach Bliley Act governs the protection of any personal data in the hands of a bank or financial institution, even defining who within an organization can access customer data and when. In the Healthcare industry, the HIPAA regulation defines parameters for how organizations handle data related to a patient’s health status or how a patient provisions or pays for their healthcare services. HIPAA contains both the security and privacy layers, defining how data should be secured and how it is collected and disclosed, respectively.
Spotlight on Data Privacy for Consumers
Given the increasing relevance of data security, what are some ways in which businesses in any space can ensure data privacy and compliance? As more businesses continue the transition into cloud technology, the right solution or service can help mitigate the risk of current and future industry compliance requirements. The CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) is a recently enacted piece of legislation that allows consumers to increase control of how their personal information is being accessed, used – and misused. Other states are following this lead, such as Washington, Virginia, Florida, and a few others. This legislation is very similar to the EU’s GDPR, in that it includes the right to be forgotten.
This limits companies from storing personal consumer information beyond necessity. In a right to be forgotten scenario, companies must be able to locate a specific piece of information across multiple repositories in files that are often enormous in size, and securely delete that segment without affecting the integrity of surrounding content. Research has shown in the past few years since it was enacted that the most difficult GDPR obligation for companies is the fulfillment of the right to be forgotten. This area is something to carefully consider for businesses still reliant on legacy ECM systems that were not designed with the capability to address these risks.
In today’s world of business, data privacy has to remain at the top of the list when it comes to a business’s priorities. What experiences have you had with data privacy at your company? Let us know in the comments below.
Systemware Content Cloud’s capabilities to simplify data protection management include several features to combat security risks, such as static and dynamic data masking and securing content with data encryption and role-based permissions for access control. Read about these capabilities and more ways Systemware can help your organization securely manage information in your free download of:
Managing Data Protection for Content Compliance
Systemware Content Cloud is an innovative content services platform that can be seamlessly deployed in external cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud, and more. Content Cloud delivers optimized performance in public, private, or hybrid cloud environments, as well as a fully hosted SaaS offering. Systemware is committed to ensuring organizations meet information governance requirements in a manner that optimizes cost and complexity while providing a tailored experience for users. To learn more about Systemware Content Cloud, call to speak directly with a content services expert at 866.533.1514 or visit us on the web at Systemware.com. Explore our Case Studies to see how we have helped organizations in their digital transformation journey, and how we can also help you.
