Running a company means ensuring that you store, look after, and transfer data with responsibility. In order to do this, you are going to need to have some clear policies in place around data protection. There are several different elements that are worth including to ensure that these are as clear and secure as possible. Here are a few top tips on establishing policies.
Monitor Sensitive Data Access
You need to start by looking at your sensitive data and deciding who you want to permit access to. Not every single member of the company is going to need to access sensitive data, so you need to consider the individual roles and responsibilities of the company. Many more companies are looking at cloud-based storage systems, so take a look at various types of cloud-based security platforms. Once you have restricted access, you can then go about monitoring users, allowing you to see exactly who is involved here, as well as checking up on whether anyone is seeing data they should not be.
Set Up Data Training Policies
As part of these policies, you need to include employee data training. Every member of the team needs to use the vital company data responsibly, but unless you have policies in place that allow them to do this, there is no chance they are going to be able to do this. Also, you need to remain on top of updating and refreshing training opportunities as the threats evolve and change over time – something that is inevitable in our modern tech-dominated world.
Establish Privacy Breach Reporting Policies
One of the other important elements of a data protection policy involves reporting when there are privacy breaches. There needs to be some transparency here, and you don’t want people to feel like they are ducking and hiding from this. For example, if an employee receives a phishing email, you want them to feel comfortable reporting this as soon as possible. Many companies have a specific channel where breaches can be reported.
Think About The Network And VPN Use
You also need to check your own network to ensure it is secure. There is no point in setting up all these policies only to find that your network can easily be breached. With more and more staff working from home, you also need to have policies based on what networks they are allowed to connect to. You may also want to consider using a VPN to ensure a level of privacy here. While home networks are generally okay, you may need to have policies involving working remotely.
Policies for data protection need to be as detailed as possible, but they also need to change over time to reflect evolving threats. Keeping one eye on your responsibilities here will ensure that you are ready to respond to any issues as soon as possible. So, make sure that you have the experts involved and that your policies are communicated as clearly and widely as possible within your company. Otherwise, there is no point in setting them up in the first place.
