Plan. Create. Maintain for GDPR compliance 

With the deadline for GDPR compliance drawing ever closer, it is becoming critical for businesses to not only plan for compliance but evaluate their strategy for effective GDPR-compliant maintenance for the future. As enforcement begins on the 25th May 2018, the firms who are not compliant will soon become apparent when fines up to 4% of global turnover or €20 million start being issued.  

With failure for compliance coming with significant risk for businesses, now is the time to implement a strategy for effective GDPR compliance. From employing Data Protection Officers or enlisting the support of a virtual CIO, organisations need to plan for compliance, create a strategy and ensure ongoing maintenance with effective results.  

So, how does your business prepare for GDPR? 

Plan: How to prepare for GDPR compliance 

Conduct a data audit 

An audit can help you to determine all of the points where data is collected and held. From there, you can map where data is collected, how it is processed and the channels that information is shared. It is important to analyse all data relationships to make sure you cover every single process.  

At Cyan Solutions, we work closely with all our customers to conduct comprehensive reviews to help create a detailed insight. Through this process, we can integrate our strategic thinking as part of your team. With auditing and our expertise in GDPR compliance, we can help to create an actionable plan to cover all of the points that you need to review and can improve. 

Questions in an audit include; 

  • How long do you keep personal data? 
  • What mechanisms are in place to safeguard data? 
  • Who do we transfer data to and is this process safe? 
  • Who has access to sensitive data? 
  • Do third parties share the data we provide? 

Become familiar with legal basis 

With individual control being at the heart of GDPR, it is essential to ascertain the legal basis for each of the data processing activities. By understanding the legal requirements, you can start to plan to refine your data collection and processing technique. For example, businesses must demonstrate that they do not collect any personal data beyond the minimum necessary for each specific processing activity.  

An activity to complete at this planning stage is a Privacy Impact Assessment. This describes the data processing activity, an assessment of its necessity and use in processing purposes and how a data protection officer is involved. Through conducting this type of review, you can understand the areas you need to streamline and refine to be compliant.  

Create: Implement a GDPR solution 

Tailor a platform 

To ensure the business is fully compliant across all teams and departments, there needs to be a cohesive system in place. With a familiar interface that helps people to carry out their normal work activities while remaining GDPR compliant and having specific access controls, staff can have an efficient platform that ensures GDPR is taken care of.  

At Cyan Solutions, we use technical architecture to tailor a platform that is specific to your business needs. We not only design a compliant and easy to use solution but also implement the strategy to make it easy for your business to migrate to a familiar system but with added flexibility, accessibility and security.  

Maintain: Track changes with analytics 

Using technical software, it is possible to monitor all changes to data throughout its lifecycle. With this, you can highlight any areas of concern for GDPR compliance. Furthermore, you can compare data to highlight any potential threats and data breaches to ensure your system remains robust and your organisation retains its GDPR compliance.  

Systems can also help you to catalogue and search for personal data across data stores. Applications such as this can help you to delete and remove data after its specific use or required time period. At Cyan Solutions, we remove the burden of maintenance by monitoring your GDPR compliance through proactive managed IT services.  

Our helpdesk is available to answer any queries and concerns while you can trust our team to safely manage your IT systems with the necessary security and back-up to maximise productivity and reduce downtime. Working with your business, we can help your IT do the hard work for you by maintaining your GDPR compliance with a proactive response and reducing the time spent reviewing compliance activities and implementing new strategies.  

Plan, create and maintain with Cyan Solutions 

If you want to find out more about how Cyan Solutions can help you to plan, create and maintain an IT system that is ready for GDPR compliance, get in touch by calling our friendly IT experts on 02392 333 365.  

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