Can you be trusted to protect your customers’ personal data? Proactively communicating your commitments to compliance

With all of this talk (admittedly, my own talk) of demanding a high GDPR compliance standard from your suppliers, what are you doing to make sure that you’re ready with answers to the questions from your stakeholders?

As we pass the first anniversary of entering the live GDPR environment, stakeholders’ expectations are increasing. The bar for compliance is getting higher and, just as all parts of the organisation start feeling that pressure, the questions on GDPR compliance will start coming from all angles: customers, regulators, third line, board members, the list goes on. How comfortable are you in answering the questions, and what cost and effort will it take to respond?

Getting your control framework in order is the first step. Getting your organisation ready to respond needs to swiftly follow. In order to avoid both the cost and heavy disruption that comes from being audited by multiple parties, organisations should consider proactively communicating their commitments to compliance.

Getting on the front foot and thinking proactively about reporting information on the data protection controls you have in place not only relieves the administrative burden on your business, but it can create commercial advantage. To be the one link in the supply chain that can prove its robust control framework and a serious focus on GDPR is differentiating from your competitors, and also in the eyes of the regulator.

Independent external assurance subjects your privacy processes and controls to a new level of rigour. That rigour, combined with essential peer insights and recommendations for improvement, lends credence to your attestation; and in a form that can be formally shared with your regulators, network peers and other stakeholders. The journey to assurance, through readiness, design effectiveness and finally operating effectiveness, is gruelling and cannot be completed overnight. But ultimately it is an invaluable catalyst for confidence.

For further information on these and other insights, don’t hesitate to reach out.