Data compliance is an enormously important concept in the 21st century. Thousands of companies are dangerously close to falling out of compliance or are already out of compliance. This change in status could run a company out of business. If not, it certainly threatens the company’s viability and financial security moving forward. Reviewing and updating compliance procedures are essential for
Control access
The most important concept to consider when looking at data governance is data access. Data should be accessed by only the employees who absolutely need that particular data at any time. General access should be restricted to data professionals who are familiar with all relevant rules and regulations surrounding the use and access of the data. This precept is important because of how compliance applies to the dissemination of data.
Many data governance rules involve where and how data is shared by the people in a company. Data that is accessed or used by the wrong person can end up being leaked or sold to third parties that can cause compliance nightmares for a company. All data in the company should be regulated and assigned to different departments. Passwords and firewalls should restrict different people from accessing that data. It must be the responsibility of one person or a group of data professionals in order to ensure that all of these regulations are met.
Follow updated laws
Ensuring an understanding of up-to-date laws is also essential for data compliance. Many data compliance laws can change on a regular basis. They may change every year based on updates to administrative rules. These laws can also change in dynamic areas such as technology or the healthcare field. A company will not be able to use ignorance of legal updates as a defense in any lawsuits that occur against it.
Instead, a company needs to have trained professionals who take regular education courses to update them on changes and improvements to the law. Only these updates will ensure that a company can utilize the law to its advantage as much as possible. This process is not always negative. Sometimes, laws change that makes it much easier for companies to do business with regard to data compliance.
Secure help
Finally, any company that is having issues with data compliance needs to seek the help of trained professionals. These professionals may be working on their own or they may be working for another, large company. They may be as simple as consultants who were brought in to review all of the compliance procedures for a company. The spectrum runs from these consultants to companies that are specifically trained and hired to meet all data compliance laws that a company may have to deal with in their particular field.
There are companies that make millions of dollars every year simply handling HIPPA regulations for healthcare companies. The vast majority of companies need to either work with these partners or hire a trained professional from one of these partners. This process will help ensure that they are meeting any constraints of data compliance that they do not already know about.
What to do
The first step to ensuring data compliance with the company is to determine all of the needs that a company has. The company has to make sure what area of data compliance importance they are in. Many companies only have to have a relatively small number of employees working on compliance at any one time. On the other hand, companies that deal extensively with medical records or Social Security numbers may have to hire an entire team or company.
A thorough analysis by management with the help of a consultant will determine these needs and will help secure a strategy moving forward. The next step is to meet with data experts and formulate a plan. This plan will help determine which forms need to be used, how data should be protected, and what stakeholders should be put in place. Certain parties should be held responsible for ensuring data compliance and should be investigated if they do not enforce these tasks. Finally, the company has to put all of these procedures into place and perhaps spend a considerable amount of money doing so. That money will be much less than they will have to spend in fines and fees if they come out of data compliance.
Conclusion
Daily compliance is not the way that the vast majority of managers want to spend their time. It is somewhat esoteric and relatively boring to a large number of people outside of the field. But it is one of the most important fields that one can deal with. It is essential for companies in the 21st century to properly engage with the government and with the laws regarding the treatment of data. Being in compliance helps ensure that customers can trust companies with their data and can continue sharing data with those companies in order to fuel a number of money-making ventures. While data compliance may seem unimportant to many managers, it has become an essential part of today’s economy and should be treated as such.
