Have you ever asked yourself the question: “What is data protection?” Data protection conformity and compliance with data protection are essential for every company that processes personal data commercially. Although data protection is regulated in two laws, the General Data Protection Regulation, also known as the GDPR, and local law, e.g. the Federal Data Protection Act, or BDSG for short, there are numerous subsidiary laws that address the question of “What is data protection?” must be taken into account. In addition, compliance with data protection is regulated in each country with its own data protection laws. Depending on the scope of the laws, the implementation of the necessary data protection measures can be very different.
What is data protection? Complex! Because ongoing updates and the ever higher demands make compliance with all data protection regulations not that easy and data protection officers in a company often lack the time to overlook the entire complexity and to proactively take care of data protection instead of the “hot spots”. If a reportable data protection incident occurs in accordance with Art. 33 GDPR, this can quickly lead to high fines, sometimes in the millions, and damage the company’s image in the long term.
Yes, so what is data protection actually now and how does a company ensure data protection compliance and compliance with the GDPR and all other laws? In the following, we at Priverion have set to work and answer the question «What is data protection?».
Personal data is sensitive and must therefore be protected separately. Especially when personal data such as name, telephone number, email address and IP address are not intended for the general public. Without a doubt, today’s technological possibilities, the advancing personalization of services and global networking have brought us numerous advantages. At the same time, however, the risk of data theft and cyber crime has increased.
The legislature was therefore forced to protect the sensitive information that can be directly or indirectly assigned to a specific person even more comprehensively. Dealing with the question “What is data protection?”, Data protection conformity and the retention of the GDPR and local data protection laws are mandatory for every company that collects, processes, uses and transmits personal data. In Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the GDPR, these are defined as “all information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person”. The data protection compliance measures are intended to guarantee that everyone has the freedom to determine what happens to their data.
While in some countries, such as Germany, there are already laws for the protection of privacy and data protection, so far there has been no geographically far-reaching and comprehensive data protection law like the GDPR. As we have seen over the past few years, this European law has shaped most of the developments in data protection law or compliance with data protection rules around the world. In addition to the positive effects on the question “What exactly is data protection?” and as it can generally be implemented, its beacon effect has led to many similar laws around the world. From a standardization point of view, this is a good thing as it lowers costs for international companies that otherwise have to deal with the question “What is data protection?” in different countries. Essentially, every law has similarities in its provisions and main pillars to the General Data Protection Regulation, but differs in a few places, e.g. in the requirements for consent or the legal basis. Pillars such as ROPA (Record of Processing Activities) or TOM (Technical and Organizational Measures) are largely similar and enable documentation to be standardized.
Data processing is only permitted if there is a legal basis for it. Therefore, data protection officers have to be familiar with many regulations in order to know the correct answers to the question “What is data protection”. For example, the storage of data in compliance with the GDPR is only legally permitted for as long as necessary for the purposes, which of course also has to be implemented during ongoing operations. At the same time, companies must guarantee adequate data security. The technical and organizational measures must be established for data protection compliance. They are also known as TOM for short. The various measures ensure the security of personal data.
There is accountability. The data protection officer also has the task of providing information about the numerous documentation obligations. Another answer to the question “What is data protection?” reads: expensive.
We at Priverion have developed a SaaS solution that makes it easier for you to ensure compliance with the GDPR and other laws as well as documentation requirements. You manage and monitor everything to do with your data protection in just one single solution, you can display and maintain a comprehensive overview of all activities and tasks. From TOM management and risk management to reports, requests for information and incident management, our core modules provide you with everything you need to get started on data protection compliance and to answer the question “What is data protection?”.
In order to bring data protection and data protection conformity to a high level and to reduce the risk of incidents in the long term, the efficiency modules are suitable as an extension. They also create significant workload relief as well as comprehensive legal security. As a user, you have the advantage of the automation of recurring tasks, access to standard data processors and ROPAs as well as a comprehensive library and you always stay up to date on the latest changes.
The question “What is data protection?” can be worked out using the definitions of the GDPR. However, the retention and the implementation in everyday life pose major challenges for numerous companies to this day. We would be happy to support you and help you to efficiently implement data protection in your company so that data protection compliance is ensured more easily and with less work. We look forward to answering the question “What is data protection?” and to advise you personally.