Privacy Programs are a Competitive Advantage
Doing the right thing with your customers’ and employees’ data is always a competitive advantage because unfortunately not all companies do it. Companies are struggling with transparency and accountability around data processing. Plus these days a data breach is one of the biggest concerns companies have because it impacts everything - customer loyalty, brand value, and the bottom line. Companies are learning that penalties for unlawful processing and expenses related to a data breach could put a business out of business.
Because of the comprehensive nature of a data privacy program and the fact that it is designed to force companies to change how they view data, if companies choose to do it right and not just check a bunch of boxes it can add real value to your business. Here are some examples:
It builds trust. Customers are starting to understand that they can trust companies who safeguard their data. Companies who implement a data privacy program will become trusted over other companies who disregard the privacy practices and regulations.
As you bake privacy into your organization, you’ll find that you don’t have “data” disparately living throughout your organization anymore. You and your customers can rest assured their data will always be in the proper place that is authoritative and reliable. From training new employees to executive decision-making, everyone will always be on the same page when it comes to data protection and privacy.
To ensure your data is in the right place, you’ll need a complete inventory of all your systems. This can reduce redundancy. You’ll find all the instances of a particular application that your employees are using and be able to consolidate or standardize on one type or brand of application.
Although breach notification in 72 hours sounds daunting (GDPR standard), in today’s age of data breach after data breach, everyone knows it’s not IF but WHEN it’s your company’s turn. It could be a little breach or it could be big but instead of worrying about the communication logistics, take the proactive step and figure out what to do when it’s your turn before it’s your turn. Also, ensure you’ve identified your team and they know what to do - hours will matter.
Being transparent with your customers and employees will become the new way of doing business. Customers are smart; they will figure out if you’re being honest with them or not, and they will spend their money with the company that they trust will keep their data secure.
Data protection is security. If you don’t already have a security program, you’ll need to get one faster than you can spell GDPR, CCPA, or PIPEDA. The data that customers entrust with you must be kept safe and the only way to do this is through excellent security.
Used together, all this will really help you understand your data and understanding your data will help you understand your business. Once you really understand the data that your company utilizes today, it will help you make better decisions in the future.
If you let it, a data privacy program can help ensure tomorrow’s success.