4 Ways to Align Your Privacy Policies with Your Digital Transformation

Businesses of all kinds frequently adapt their technology to meet growing needs, but the pandemic has been especially influential in causing businesses to undergo complete digital transformations.

The global pandemic caused many businesses to encourage their employees to work remotely, and doing so has brought with it a number of challenges. One of the main challenges is how to make sure that your privacy policy falls in line with that digital transformation.

As businesses have undergone abrupt shifts to remote networks and hybrid workforces, studies predict they will continue to be affected for at least four years to come, so it’s important to make sure now that your business during your digital transformation.

Here are four important ways you can align your privacy policies to keep your business secure during remote work and other technology adaptations:

1. Conduct An IT Risk Assessment

The main issue when making changes to your IT is that you need to know what risks are being increased by those digital adaptations. The process of identifying, defining, and mitigating those risks is called a risk assessment. In this process, you should make sure to answer three vital questions:

1. What are the company’s most important IT assets? In other words, what data is most important to how the organization functions?
2. What are the processes for handling, storing, and sharing that data?
3. What kinds of threats could affect business functions and your ability to operate properly?

Answering these questions will be an important start to the process of conducting an IT risk assessment. These assessments are critical in identifying potential areas where data loss could occur, where downtime could be reduced, or where your systems are non-compliant with industry regulations. 

After a risk assessment, you can put into place stronger policies for dealing with those risks and for mitigating the likelihood of them occurring in the first place. This includes enhancing your privacy policies, which outline the safest ways for employees to handle sensitive data.

2. Establish or Update BYOD And WFH Policies

With people increasingly working from home, you need to make sure that your Bring-Your-Own-Device policy and your Work-from-Home policy are up to date with any digital changes you’ve made within your organization. 

For example, now that many of your employees are likely working remotely, you need to ensure that your remote employees have clear policies that outline how and where they can use personal or work devices. They should also be instructed on appropriate tools and software they can use, as opposed to programs that may not be safe.

3. Understand How Employees, Vendors, and Partners Use Sensitive Data In Your Organization

Keeping a close eye on sensitive data is vital, and a big part of that means knowing exactly how every person in your organization uses and handles it. That includes your employees of course, but also any vendors you use or business partners you have.

For employees, as previously mentioned, you should have clear privacy policies for how and where they can access and store data. For the vendors and partners, it’s wise to have a contractual agreement regarding how they are allowed to use your company data and the consequences if it is mishandled. 

4. Work with a Reputable IT Company

The best way to ensure your privacy policies are being continually adapted to meet the growing needs of your organization is by working with a reputable IT company. These experts can help you understand best practices for revamping your privacy policies to reflect your new working conditions, whether they are remote, onsite, or a hybrid of the two. 

With an IT company to work alongside you, your privacy policies can fall in line with your digital transformation, ensuring that the future of your business is safe and secure.

With these four strategies, your business will be on the fast track not only to protecting sensitive data during these unprecedented times but to future-proofing your company for years to come.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/tech-and-gadgets/4-ways-to-align-your-privacy-policies-with-your-digital-transformation/