Data Privacy for the Information Professional: Best Practices to Getting Started

Data Privacy for the Information Professional: Best Practices to Getting Started

Melanie Boop, Content Marketing Specialist

Data is personal, which is why the management of it is so important. Each day, nearly 403 million terabytes of data are created globally, keeping data privacy as a top priority for information governance professionals. With so much information being generated and the continued increase of data breaches, consumers are more conscious of how their personal information is collected and managed. With no signs of security threats slowing down, it’s crucial for businesses to evaluate what is needed to comply with ever-changing privacy laws and build consumer trust.

Privacy is Never a One-Off

Privacy compliance isn’t a one-time task; it’s a core principle organizations must embrace. This mindset helps guide decisions across business processes, technologies, and data management practices. By making privacy a core priority of your business, you ensure that it influences everything from product development and customer interactions to data handling and security, creating a culture where privacy is prioritized at all levels.

While some elements, like records policies and retention schedules, may be familiar to your organization, other aspects of privacy compliance may be unfamiliar territory. For example, the need to provide disclosures, obtain permissions before collecting personal data, and delete data upon request may require implementing new processes and new or revised tools.

In tackling this extensive initiative, it’s important to understand that privacy compliance isn’t one-size-fits-all. The privacy landscape is complex and ever-evolving, with laws varying depending on where your business operates. For example, suppose your business is based in Europe. In that case, you must navigate the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR)—a comprehensive and complex framework of rules and regulations enforced across the European Union (EU) to protect personal data. In contrast to the unified framework of the GDPR, the U.S. operates under a patchwork of state-level privacy laws— meaning that the privacy laws vary from state to state, depending on where you do business. While the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is probably the most comprehensive privacy law in the U.S., many other states have enacted or are enacting their own laws, each with its requirements, adding to the constantly changing privacy landscape. Navigating this landscape is an ongoing process that requires organizations to be proactive and adaptive when things shift.

Data Privacy Best Practices

Under GDPR, there are seven main data protection principles that data controllers must follow in order to be compliant with the law. Likewise, the United States has ten principles that form the foundation of data privacy laws for each state.

It may feel overwhelming to try and implement all these principles into your business processes and policies, but getting started is the most important step. These data protection principles can be mostly achieved by adhering to a few key best practices:

  • If it can be traced to someone, it’s considered personal information. Some privacy laws provide detailed lists of what counts as personal data; others, such as the CCPA and GDPR, have broader and more general definitions. Therefore, never assume that data capable of identifying someone isn’t classified as personal information.
  • Less is more, and in regard to privacy, less is better. If you don’t need a piece of personal information, don’t collect it. If you did need it and it’s no longer necessary, get rid of it. This notion of data minimization, or keeping the least personal information in your possession, is a core principle of all privacy laws. Establishing and enforcing a records retention schedule ensures you dispose of unnecessary or outdated information to minimize risk and meet compliance guidelines.
  • When in doubt, disclose and ask for clarity. You don’t always need to disclose why you’re collecting personal information, and you don’t always need permission. However, if permission is required and you don’t obtain it, you could make a costly mistake. It never hurts to ask for confirmation.
  • If they don’t need to see it, they shouldn’t. Privacy laws ensure that sensitive information is safeguarded, including how data is stored, protected, and shared. To protect individuals’ privacy and rights, clear guidelines should be established for how data can be accessed and by whom.

Implementing these data privacy best practices can seem overwhelming, but a good place to start is by reviewing your organization’s existing processes and evaluating how they prioritize privacy. From there, identify gaps or weaknesses and prioritize those areas to ensure compliance and meet privacy standards.

Conclusion

Data privacy is the cornerstone of consumer trust and security in today’s data-driven world. Given the constantly evolving privacy law landscape, businesses must stay hyper-vigilant to remain compliant and earn consumer trust. To learn additional strategies for keeping up with ever-evolving privacy laws, watch the webinar recording of Mission Control for Information: Balancing Privacy in the Cosmos of Records Management.

Watch “Mission Control for Information” now!