Today, data protection has become part of everyday work for most companies. It is therefore an obligation for companies to implement the legal requirements such as GDPR or BDSG and to appoint a data protection officer – DSB for short. All processes relating to data protection must be processed by the company in a legally compliant manner and in accordance with current requirements, otherwise there is a risk of high fines and, not infrequently, considerable damage to the company’s image. At the same time, it should be kept in mind that data protection causes costs and that this raises some financial questions. Regardless of whether you employ an internal or external data protection officer, the costs depend on various factors.
In principle, it is not possible to state exact data protection costs. The individual factors in the industry always ensure different requirements and a different scope of activities relating to data protection. This has an impact on the costs of a data protection officer. However, it is quite easy to estimate in advance which model will save you data protection costs.
In order to keep an eye on data protection costs in advance, you must first decide whether you want to employ an internal or external DPO. Book corresponding services with an external provider so that they can advise you on data protection. An internal DPO is usually an employee appointed by you who is trained and regularly trained as a data protection officer in accordance with the legal requirements, or you explicitly advertise the position.
The costs for an external data protection officer are based on the desired scope of services. The external data protection officer has the advantage that the relevant qualifications for data protection are already available and the costs for further training are not incurred. The professional external DPO is very knowledgeable and, in the best case, offers holistic support. Nevertheless, an external DPO can usually not be easily involved in all operational processes, which increases the transfer of information and the effort. Additional costs may arise under certain circumstances and increase the costs of the external data protection officer.
When appointing an internal employee, it may first be necessary to finance the further training as well as the ongoing training. However, if the employment contract remains the same, the data protection costs remain unchanged, unless the salary is adjusted. An advantage can be seen in relation to the internal, faster communication and the extensive knowledge of the day-to-day company processes. Disadvantages are usually that the appointed internal data protection officer has to perform other tasks in the company and so often there is not enough time to ensure comprehensive documentation and at the same time to observe all guidelines from laws such as GDPR, LGPD or BDSG, which are also constantly changing. As a rule, only current focal points are then addressed.
The use of an intuitive data protection management software such as that from Priverion is a cost-effective option. With comprehensive standardized documents and templates such as ROPA, TOM and AV contracts, the workload of an internal DPO is significantly reduced. Not only does the quality of data protection and the level of data protection conformity increase, data protection costs can also be reduced. The capacities gained can be used for preventive measures to ensure long-term legal security. Conversely, this means that your employees master both their core work and data protection with confidence. The complete and partly automated and efficient documentation creates transparency and clarity. Thanks to the ease of use, a representative is quickly incorporated into the processes of the internal data protection officer, which also reduces data protection costs.
With our data protection management software as SaaS solutions, you already have the data protection costs in your own hands when making your selection. You can choose between our core modules and the extension with the efficiency modules.
In the core module, you will find everything that is important to start complying with all legal regulations and regular documentation. You benefit from extensive support in all activities related to data protection compliance. The clear presentation in a directory facilitates maintenance and administration and creates a comprehensive overview.
The core modules include:
• Record of processing activities (ROPA)
• Management of data processors
• TOM management
• Incident Management
• Risk management (data flow based)
• Reports and data flow visualization
• Data subject requests
• Reviews and audits
• Multi-law function
If you want even more services – in order to reduce ongoing data protection costs – the “efficiency modules” component is a good choice. With this you reduce the effort and all processes around recurring tasks through automation, get all standard data processors and ROPAs and secure access to all library elements in order to always stay informed about changes.
The performance modules include:
• Data Processor Library
• ROPA Library
• Policy Library
• TOM Library
• Retention and Deletion Library
• Policy Tree
• Employee training
• Merger, acquisition and exclusion functions
• Azure Active Directory
• Data protection portal
With our software solution you save nerves, time, effort and, above all, data protection costs. In addition, with Priverion you gain a reliable partner in matters of data protection who is at your side for all questions.
Contact us now and let our experts advise you about your options.