In a changing world, it pays to be prepared
A connected world comes with consequences
The creation and retention of data has increased exponentially in recent years. Our expanding digital landscapes have led to the introduction of privacy legislation to keep our data secure.
Much of our data is stored in vast ‘lakes’ for analytical purposes. Organisations have taken advantage of the quantities being collected by putting this data to work in order to learn more about their customers and their habits. This pooling of data is complex and has brought them into conflict with different regulatory regimes and jurisdictions.
GDPR compelled organisations to take the privacy rights of their customers seriously and now has counterparts all over the world such as the CCPA, LGPD, PDPA and NYPA. It also forced businesses to stop using archaic tools to make sense of their fragmented data landscape.
A global wake-up call
The Covid-19 pandemic was a rude awakening for businesses the world over, with many hastily using outdated and unreliable tools such as Excel to ensure they remained compliant – resulting in important data slipping through the cracks due to lack of clear visibility over all facets of their data lifecycle. Organisations are at higher risk of security breaches with sensitive data existing outside the four walls of their offices.
This has been a hard lesson for many businesses that didn’t already have a trusted and effective data privacy solution in place, enabling a smooth and relatively seamless transition from office working to remote working. But for companies that had taken GDPR for the opportunity it was – a chance to get ahead of the competition by utilising vital and underused data – the pandemic hasn’t been as devastating for them as it has for others. They had already been achieving more than just compliance for two years by the time Covid hit, and they are the ones that have been able to adapt and evolve as a result.
Privacy requires agility
Applying static laws to rapidly moving economic, social and technical landscapes is difficult. Proving regulatory compliance can be extremely time-consuming, repetitive and labour-intensive when done manually.
The initial cost of this development may be leveraged if the organisation acts proactively to use this regulatory burden as an impetus for improving business functions, as well as meeting its obligations. Solidatus is the only product that can be used to cover all global data protection regulations. It is agile and scalable and can show common regulations, indicating the delta where there are differing regulations for each region/country. Collectively, this reduces the cost of regulatory compliance for multi-jurisdictional organisations.
As data privacy legislation continues to grow, it is imperative that holistic solutions are put in place to protect sensitive data and the businesses that hold it. Organisations that fail to implement adequate data strategies will suffer financial penalties that may render the business unprofitable or even unviable. For companies that remain ahead of the curve, they will find the carrot is much longer than the stick.
This article was authored by Solidatus: experts in helping you understand and leverage data lineage.
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