Safeguarding PII: Managing Company-Held Data Responsibly
Organizations must ensure they maintain collected personally identifiable information (PII) according to federal law while understanding the specific laws applicable in their jurisdiction. Understanding and maintaining compliance with the legal frameworks for managing company-held data will help avoid data breaches and related penalties.
Here are some best practices for managing company-held data:
- Create a comprehensive data protection policy: Develop clear guidelines that outline how your organization collects, stores, processes, shares, and disposes of personal information. Ensure all employees are aware of these policies and receive regular training on best practices.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of legal requirements: Stay informed about changes to data privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, or HIPAA that may impact your business operations. Consult with legal experts if necessary to ensure full compliance when managing company-held data.
- Leverage encryption technologies: Use industry-standard encryption methods like SSL/TLS when transmitting sensitive data over networks or storing it at rest within databases or file systems. This can help protect personal data from unauthorized access.
- Implement strict access controls: Limit the number of employees who have access to sensitive data and monitor their activities regularly. Introduce multi-step verification for improved security.
- Conduct regular audits and assessments: Periodically review your organization’s data privacy practices, assess potential risks, and implement necessary improvements or corrective actions based on findings.
It is important to note that certain types of personal data are considered PII depending on the country or even state the customer lives. This may include information such as a person’s name, address, phone number, and social security number, and varies from state-to-state and country-to-country. Companies that handle PII must take extra precautions to protect this sensitive information.
By following best practices and utilizing, attorneys can ensure that their organization is compliant with legal frameworks governing personal data privacy. This includes having the right team to support data privacy compliance efforts. Contact Baer Reed’s privacy team today.
- On November 15, 2023
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