Regulatory compliance — it’s in the trade journals, major business magazines, and industry blogs. Yet lots of advice doesn’t always translate into a full set of knowledge when it comes to such a vast issue. Compliance can refer to many different things, including software licensing, healthcare regulations, and consumer data storage and usage. What does your business need to know about sticking within the law and within industry-specific regulations? Here’s your answer.
1. Know the Compliance Issues Facing Your Organization
Are you in compliance with data storage on private individuals? How about healthcare information and software licenses? There are many types of compliance to be concerned with today, and the list keeps growing.
Most compliance regulations fall under one of two categories: statutes or standards. Statutes refer to government-mandated laws, either on the federal level or on the state level. Standards refer to the regulations imposed by the regulatory and governing bodies of a particular industry.
Almost all businesses need to be cognizant of software licensing compliance. Most also need to be aware of consumer data storage, usage, and security compliance. Some must additionally be sensitive to HIPAA regulations, which govern access to information on people’s health issues.
The types of data you collect, store, and use during your business activities dictates which statutes and standards you must abide by. For example, if your records hold information that might be necessary for litigation, you need a means by which to store, backup, and if necessary, retrieve that information if subpoenaed.
Another example is keeping consumer data that could be used to identify an individual (and even steal their identity). Regulations exist to protect that data (thereby protecting the consumer), and include standards for housing the data, using the data, and discarding the data. When you no longer need sensitive data, you need an effective means for disposing of it so that it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
2. Develop Compliance Plans That are Stricter Than Current Regulations
Build stronger compliance measures than you need for now, so that you don’t have to restructure your processes as regulations get tougher.
Big data is still new, and governments around the world haven’t yet solidified exactly how to go about governing and regulating it. Hence, most of the major world governments (the U.S., the U.K. and the developed nations in Asia) are still thrashing out how that legislation should look. Hence, if you are gathering, holding, or using sensitive data on consumers, your plans now should be to protect it more strictly than the law currently requires. This will mean that you don’t have to restructure your entire data storage and processing plans when stricter laws are eventually handed down (and that will happen).
3. Master the Art of the Self-Audit
Whether you are charged with helping your company stay compliant with software licenses, consumer data, or medical information on individuals, you need to develop plans and conduct regular self-audits. This assures that if any governing body (such as the folks at your software vendor or a government agency) demands an audit of your systems and data, you are prepared. What should a self-audit look like?
• Have solid backup systems in place so that you can prove data is safeguarded in case of natural disaster, cyber-attack, or a physical attack on your facilities.
• Designate a team of self-auditors who are in charge of developing plans and overseeing test audits.
• Carefully collect data during your self-audit so that you can identify what worked well and what needs to be improved.
• Use the data to refine your self-test process. Repeat tests regularly so that the process is finely-tuned and your team is well-practiced in case a real audit occurs.
4. Carefully Select Third-Party Vendors With Compliance in Mind
Proving your in-house compliance isn’t always the only issue governing bodies are checking. You might also have to answer for any third-party vendors that have access to your data, store your data, or conduct analysis on the data. When you contract with third-parties like cloud service providers, disaster recovery specialists, and other vendors, be sure that their processes are designed in such a way that the data is handled according to any rules and regulations that govern that type of data.
Finally, stay on top of developing stories about federal, state, and industry regulations. In light of the rash of recent (and serious) data breaches, these regulations are getting nothing but tougher as time goes by.
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