Data Protection Policy
Struggling to make head or tail of your privacy documentation? Need to train new staff on how to handle data protection compliance or requests in your business? We’ve got your drafting needs covered so that you don’t have to sweat the small stuff.
Policies and procedures provide a team with clarity and consistency. Not only do they cover data specific information, but they can also communicate your company’s goals, values, and culture. Whilst data protection laws require you to put in place policies where proportionate, it should be a choice you make to provide the right information and support in a privacy by design approach. There’s no “framework” or “structure” to follow –you’ll need to make decisions that suit your business.
A lot of the devil in data protection is in the detail. Having templates in place to support you through the basics is step one. Policies and procedures are guidance tools for ensuring that those templates are used at the right moments and for the right reasons. These documents need to be tailored to your business, because every workforce is unique, and your data privacy risk appetite and compliance strategy will need to reflect and work with plans for your products and/or services.
Examples
Data Protection Policy: your business’ data protection bible. The holy grail of all the information your staff need to know about how to handle personal information, from a data subject access request, to a data breach.
Records of Processing management: you might not technically need a Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) if you have less than250 employees, but it doesn’t hurt to make a note of your more data heavy relationships, especially where you are sharing data internationally or with risky third parties, or you’ve had to carry out an impact assessment.
Information Security – IT should be all over this, but there is a crucial link between ensuring that you have solid cyber defences and protecting the personal data you hold in a secure way. This reduces the risk of data breaches, leaks or hacks.