Call Accounting Featured Article

A Few GDPR Points to Ponder

  By Maurice Nagle, Web Editor

The GDPR era is upon us, are you prepared? With the May 25 deadline looming, organizations across the globe are scrambling to ensure all the box’s are checked, t’s crossed and i‘s dotted on the compliance plan before the legislation comes into effect. I’m here to offer a few quick points to forward your fire drill-like efforts.

First, let’s talk security. Breach response is mission critical in the GDPR era. There is no margin for error, so practice makes perfect. Have you been testing response plans based on a range of breach scenarios? Beyond walking the security team through test runs, remember the rules have changed making it mandatory to notify the proper authorities within 72 hours of the incident. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice.

Piggybacking the security point, some organizations must hire a data protection officer (DPO), and it is important there are no conflicts of interest – i.e. DPO and IT manager. Independence in this regard is vital.

GDPR comes with clear customer focus, but remember employees are covered, as well. Transparency with your team is paramount. This means informing employees personal data will be processed by the company under legitimate interest with a data privacy notice.

 Speaking of the team, training is critical. Walk colleagues through the paces of the legislation in a way that’s digestible and applicable to their roles. Awareness is crucial to combating fines and even worse a negative public view.

Also, don’t forget to put the proper technology components in place. In addition to educating the team, running security through scenarios and DPO independence, call accounting and reporting solutions are equally necessary.

These are just a few tidbits to turn the gears as you prep for GDPR. Hopefully your plan is in place, peace of mind is settling in and business is booming. If not, the clock is ticking.

Does your organization have a compliance plan in place?