Why Get Data Privacy As A Service For Your Organization?

Another week, another company struggling to protect customer information in the news after a harmful data theft incident. Beyond just bad press and lawsuits, failing privacy protection breaks user trust while risking massive fines from increasingly strict data regulations. Yet despite dangerous gaps, most organizations underestimate the resources required achieving real compliance and security by attempting to handle everything internally only using existing non-expert staff stretched thin already.

This article walks through in plainly explained detail why designating at least one outside privacy specialist to comprehensively oversee management – through integrated Data Privacy as a Service (DPOaaS) partnerships – makes genuine, maintained progress more likely by aligning employees, technology systems and processes together far better than current teams could independently given extreme complexity outpacing limited skillsets.

Expanding Data Privacy Laws Necessitate Action

Governments keep enacting tougher laws guiding proper data handling as high-visibility incidents continue exposing sensitive user information around household purchases, locations, health records and personal habits. These complex expanded regulations include:

GDPR – Strict European Union standards managing international data exchange designed to increase citizen privacy rights and control like requiring consent for collection.

CCPA – In the US, California’s similarly strict mandates give residents transparency into what companies know about them alongside opportunities correcting or deleting such data on-demand.

HIPAA – America’s main healthcare privacy act sets guidelines specifically around properly securing medical histories like diagnoses or prescription information.

Financial fines for non compliance often measure in the millions of dollars, calculated based on factors like total number of database records exposed internationally due to policy gaps or weak security controls allowing unauthorized access violating responsible privacy practices.

Yet getting current technicians split on daily urgent support requests to properly scope all these intricate legal requirements then reliably embed and update sufficient protocols rarely works consistently because focus drifts elsewhere as new fires emerge. That’s why outside experts provide such overwhelmingly helpful perspective addressing overlooked planning steps.

Why Internal Privacy Efforts Often Start Strong But Then Stall

Survey data reveals a clear trend ~over 85% of initial internal privacy compliance kickoff projects ultimately fizzle to halting progress after the first few months of enthusiastic activity because of predictable challenges including:

Overwhelmed Teams Constantly Put Out Fires – Relentless daily user support tickets dealing with immediate technology problems naturally take priority and drain available time away from long term privacy planning needs. Advisors reinforce accountability.

IT Staff Remain Generalists – While skilled keeping systems running, most existing internal roles just know infrastructure, not the niche nuance across various data regulations covered earlier. Steep learning curves sap momentum.

Specialized Documentation Lags – Formally auditing then documenting required controls, data types, personnel training and satisfactory evidence ultimately requires niche experience bridging IT to legal that typical staff just gains too slowly through research alone. It is not their core competency after all.

Inconsistent Privacy Habits Embed – Allowing outdated policies like sharing files via unrestricted emails or unauthorized analysis practices among well-meaning teammates multiplies overall business risk.

In essence, expectations of fully handling expansive privacy while simultaneously supporting users and infrastructure reliably proves unrealistic at most growing organizations. But objective outside specialists thrive precisely accelerating these scoped mappings of current strengths and weaknesses specifically around securing sensitive data flows, ensuring compliance through staff habits organization wide and crucially sustaining enduring accountability improving protections measurably over time rather than just temporarily checking mandated boxes that internally simply lapses again. This permits reaching information security objectives faster by intelligently bridging gaps common bringing specialists in-house alone often fails delivering with consistency before risks turn to réalité.

The Range of Specialized Skills DPOaaS Privacy Advisors Provide

Data protection officers and related privacy advisor roles possess multifaceted skills spanning technical policy assessment through fully investigating advanced preparations avoiding potential non-compliance fines and incidents – all customized to overcome identified weaknesses:

Regulation Fluency – Partners thoroughly navigate complex compliance needs across GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA as examples – then translate obligations into policies and protocols normal staff intuitively follow rather than avoid given competing priorities.

Threat Modeling – Conduct ongoing infrastructure, application and workflow audits using intrusive tools identifying vulnerabilities attackers exploit to breach defenses reaching the underlying data itself rather than just theoretical protection assumptions.

Incident Response Procedures – Prepare and finalize responsible security incident response and required notification procedures designed specifically to comply with disclosure regulation timeframes and methods for various data types if breach events unfortunately still ever occur somehow despite maturing safeguards.

Staff Education – Partners implement wide role based privacy training measuring improved practices when handling sensitive materials like health records, account information and passwords stored across the environment. Assess retention habits upgrading procedures through friendly feedback celebrating milestones meeting targets.

Third Party Vendor Assessments – Critically evaluate current and potential external vendors claiming access to internal systems holding key customer data by comprehensively assessing their own control safeguards protecting exposures at least to minimum necessary levels required legally. Guide remediations optimizing relationships.

In essence, expert privacy advisors in a sense serve as versatile interpreters bridging complex technical regulations into staged pragmatic actions methodically upgraded securing progressive data driven business expansion where desired rather than introducing prohibitive innovation slowing hurdles. Flexible DPOaaS engagements resourcefully align appropriate skills as organizations evolve.

Why Outsourcing Data Privacy Management Tends to Work Better

Structuring win-win engagements allowing internal staff and outside experts to collaborate as partners purposefully ends up delivering vastly better privacy results because accountability improves following these basic patterns:

Supplement In-House IT Teams: Clarify advisors align to supplement capabilities, not criticize skills. Everyone brings unique strengths to mobilize together.

Balance Project Upgrades and Sustained Coaching: Initial foundation setting assessment, tooling and policy deliverables give way to ongoing training reinforcement and rhythm meeting milestones. Budgets flex with needs.

Adapt Guidance to Business Realities: No boilerplate regs thrown over the fence. Experts craft pragmatic guidance recognizing operational constraints, legacy systems and cultural dynamics influencing adoption pacing.

Maintain Manageable Milestones: Major accomplishments like published policy guides or enhanced data governance launch through orchestrated change management launching adoption. Tightly scope project charters.

Embed Quantitative Progress Metrics: Require benchmarking meeting baseline training completion rates. Track policy attestations and violation decrease trends demonstrating capability improvements over defined periods.

Essentially, committed data privacy partnerships flexibly integrate layered protections recognizing in-house IT administrative strengths while injecting specialized outside experts driving maturity increases. Sustained collaborations collectively achieve what previous siloed attempts likely struggled fueling alone.

Conclusion

Expanding regulations paired with existing staff facing overwhelmed schedules supporting users and infrastructure predictably stalls privacy advancements at most businesses – leaving sensitive information vulnerable from incidents that proper planning could outright avoid. Formally allying with seasoned data protection advisors through versatile Data Privacy as a Service (DPOaaS) engagement models allows organizations finally benefiting from specialized world class guidance conveniently scaled to precise needs at budget realities through adjustable options. This joint progress ends up securing customer trust far faster than previous fits-and-start attempts otherwise struggling internally alone. What partnership could proactively vault your company ahead tomorrow?

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