Managing Security, Privacy, and Trust: Insights for CISOs

Data Privacy and Protection Challenges in the Modern World

The world is generating an enormous amount of data every day, and this amount is expected to reach 463 exabytes globally by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum. To put it into perspective, one exabyte equates to one billion gigabytes. However, with data proliferating everywhere, it is increasingly hard to protect it because as the adage among cybersecurity professionals goes, “you can’t protect what you can’t see.” This situation poses a difficult challenge for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) responsible for safeguarding extensive corporate and customer data. Such data needs to be highly guarded to avoid hefty legal and compliance fines. On top of this, several countries are enacting comprehensive privacy requirements, with 71% of countries already having some form of data protection and privacy legislation in place. With the complexity and changeability of these regulations, organizations must ensure that privacy protection remains central to their operations.

Data Privacy and Data Protection Challenges

Data privacy and data protection are interchangeable, with both being important in building trust. CISOs play a crucial role in cultivating customer loyalty by choosing an appropriate mix of state-of-the-art, automated, next-generation data protection solutions that ensure data protection while respecting customer preferences on how the data is used. In the quest to manage data privacy in cloud services better, customers have been requesting data privacy solutions embedded into the cloud services they use to operate their businesses. They have been facing three main challenges.

Personal Data Identification and Management

In many cases, customers have been struggling to identify and manage personal data in their existing cloud environments. They have not had the appropriate tools in place to discover and define personal data correctly. Moreover, they have been using several archaic, manual processes to manage risk. They have been relying on spreadsheets to keep data private and had difficulty keeping up with subject rights requests (SRRs) brought on by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and other regulations. Customers have required waivers of execution for the SRRs.

Managing SRRs at Scale

Responding to SRRs has been challenging, resource-intensive, and costly to manage. An IAPP/EY report showed that more than half of organizations handle SRRs manually, with one in three having already automated the process. According to Gartner, most organizations process between 51 and 100 SRRs per month at a cost of more than $1,500 per request. As more privacy regulations take effect, and the public becomes increasingly informed of their rights, the volume of SRRs is anticipated to increase drastically, stretching organizations’ resources even further. Managing SRRs involves verifying the data subject to ensure that the correct individual is accessing the data and then collecting, reviewing and redacting the data where necessary. When an organization primarily depends on email for collaboration, electronic discovery tools for search, and manual reviews to identify data conflicts, managing the SRRs processes often lead to inconsistent and incompatible standards. These methods are time-consuming, costly, and lack scalability. Consequently, they create data sprawl and an additional risk of compliance breaches. To manage SRRs effectively, organizations should standardize an integrated process that supports SRR management.

Streamlining Data Privacy Protections and SRRs

Automating data discovery and retrieval plays a crucial role in managing SRRs effectively. The faster and easier an organization can search for data, estimate data volume, and modify search queries, the more efficient its SRR process will be. In light of this, we recommend automating the discovery and retrieval of data, as this can help to reduce the risk of missing critical information, which may cause non-compliance. Additionally, integrating an SRR tool with information security and compliance solutions can offer a more efficient and accurate way of identifying potential data conflicts. However, we recommend that organizations choose a platform that also ensures secure and compliant collaboration. As a result, they can respond to SRRs in a uniform manner across their entire data estates. Ultimately, if companies want to leverage the power that data holds, they must first protect it. Data security goes hand in hand with data privacy.

Editorials and Insights

Data privacy and security are critical in the digital world, where data is becoming an increasingly valuable asset. Therefore, it is essential to implement proper measures to protect data privacy and security. Companies must build trust among their customers by introducing appropriate and automated data protection solutions that protect their data. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other automated solutions are likely to be game-changers in maintaining data privacy and security.

There is a need to create a standard process that supports SRR management. The process should aim to streamline data privacy protections and SRR management to ensure a uniform response across an organization’s data estates. Furthermore, automating the discovery and retrieval of data and integrating with an SRR tool can help organizations identify potential data conflicts more accurately and efficiently.

Finally, building a data protection and privacy strategy requires significant effort that involves multifunctional teams. Successful execution requires collaboration with critical stakeholders in an organization, including the legal department, HR, IT, and financing, among others. It is everyone’s responsibility to build a comprehensive understanding of data privacy, protection, and management practices and oversee compliance.

Advice and Recommendations

Organizations seeking to streamline data privacy protections and SRRs should:

• Automate the discovery and retrieval of personal data
• Integrate SRR tools with information security and compliance solutions
• Ensure secure and compliant collaboration
• Select solutions that are compatible with existing privacy ecosystems
• Standardize the SRR process across their data estates
• Establish a unified triage and review platform

Organizations must build a standardized and integrated process to support SRR management. The process should begin with discovering relevant data, identifying data conflicts, triaging multiple-person data and legal conflicts, and finally, reviewing the data set across multiple teams before responding to the SRRs. The next-generation data protection solutions built with AI, machine learning, and advanced algorithms must be central to these processes. Through such measures, organizations can foster trust among their customers and comply with regulatory requirements.