Your company's data is its most precious asset. Protecting this information is paramount to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations, whether that's safeguarding data associated with your commercial partners, customers, or the data a business holds about its workers.
For this reason, all organisations must have a formal set of data protection policies and to guarantee compliance.
Until recently, the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 was the primary legislation for holding and processing data in the UK. It was replaced in 2018 by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), alongside the Data Protection Act 2018.
These were introduced to strengthen safeguards for citizens in the era of mass data processing and social media. Maintaining compliance with both GDPR and the DPA 2018 protects your business from penalties and improves your organisation's data hygiene. Adopting robust data protection policies offers a range of benefits that extend far beyond simply ticking a regulatory box.
Why does a company need data protection policies?
The information contained in this article should be considered as general advice only, and should not be used as an alternative to sound legal advice from your own legal team and Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Suppose your company is found to have potentially breached GDPR. In that case, it's likely to trigger an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), depending on the seriousness of the breach. If the ICO finds your organisation is non-compliant, it can impose a range of penalties, from hefty fines to enforcement notices. The scale of these penalties will depend on a business' due diligence, and maintaining effective policies can go a long way to communicating this.
It's essential to maintain robust policy documentation to ensure your business understands and meets all of its data processing responsibilities governed by GDPR and DPA. This will give your business a practical advantage, as your approach to data security can be clearly communicated to your workforce, customers, and commercial partners. These policies remove uncertainty and enable your company to build and maintain more robust data security systems.
What should a data protection policy contain?
No two data security policies are the same. Every policy should align to a business' overall aims and objectives, and therefore will be entirely unique. For example, if your company doesn't collect customer data, a security policy governing this data is optional. Avoid policy templates and create a bespoke policy just for your company.
GDPR and DPA will drive the core of the policies you create for your business. In essence, your policies must address critical components of data security. These state data held by a company must:
- Be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully
- Be obtained for a specified and lawful purpose and shall not be processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose
- Be adequate, relevant and reasonable for those purposes
- Be accurate and keep up to date
- Not be kept longer than is necessary for that purpose
- Be processed in accordance with the data subject rights
- Be kept safe from unauthorised access, accidental loss or destruction
- It will not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area unless that country has equivalent levels of protection for personal data
- Be responsible and accountable for the data being collected
These critical aspects of your policies ensure that the fundamental principles of GDPR are met. These include how data is lawfully collected, how it's kept up to date if any changes are made, how your company plans on keeping the data safe from unauthorised access, how the data will be removed when it's no longer needed, and how you will guarantee the data is removed from all systems. Your policy should clearly state how your workforce will comply with all the relevant data security regulations.
Best practices for creating a data protection policy
Apply the principles of GDPR and DPA to your business
To create a comprehensive data security policy that meets all the regulations' requirements, your business must first clearly understand which aspects of the regulations apply to your company, its staff, processes, and any commercial partners.
It may be pertinent to establish a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who will control how the data protection policy is implemented, policed, and evolved. Your policy may need to change to reflect how your company grows. Your DPO will also be instrumental when SARs (Processing Subject Access Requests) are made to your company.
Conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
This is a beneficial exercise to carry out regularly. Think of a DPIA as an audit of the data in your businesses and what risks that data might face today and in the future. Speak to everyone who comes into contact with the data your policy will be designed to secure. Ask them how they access the data. How do they manipulate this information? Is this information shared? If so, with whom? And assess who needs access to the most sensitive information your business collects.
The answers to these questions will be your roadmap to creating a comprehensive, robust, usable data protection policy.
For more information, visit our guide on how to perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
Build data access authorisation into your data protection policy
Your business's data has different values. It is critical to identify the most sensitive information and protect it from potential data breaches. Your data protection policy should also identify who in your workforce can access this information and detail how this information can be accessed and from which locations, such as remote workers.
Only collect the information that is needed
A core principle of GDPR is data minimisation - that is only the information your business needs to operate efficiently should be collected. Your policy should clearly define which information is being collected and for what purpose. Remember that there are penalties for excessive data collection.
Customer data, in particular, can be susceptible to over-collection. Indeed, your customers can ask you what information you hold about them in the form of a Subject Access Request (SAR), and they have the right to be forgotten. Your policy should set out how these aspects of data security will be implemented and managed.
Train your workforce in best practices
Your business's data protection policy is only valid if implemented incorrectly. Here, education and training are vital. Communicate clearly what your policy is designed to do, how it will be implemented on a practical level, and the responsibilities that everyone coming into contact with this data has to ensure it is safe at all times.
Regularly review your data protection policy
As the data in your business changes and evolves, so should the policies that govern its security. A fundamental part of your data protection policy is regular reviews.
Your policy is not a fixed document but something more organic, as it needs to change to reflect how your business approaches its data security. Regularly assess your business's policy to see whether it meets your needs and responsibilities. If changes need to be made, make them quickly and remember to communicate these changes to the relevant members of your workforce.
In today's data-driven world, a robust data protection policy isn't just a regulatory afterthought – it's a fundamental business necessity. With the ever-increasing volume of personal information collected and processed, businesses are responsible for ensuring its security and responsible use. Implementing a data protection policy safeguards customer trust and your organisation's reputation.
Following data protection regulations like GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 protects you from hefty fines and potential investigations. But the benefits extend far beyond avoiding penalties. A firm data protection policy fosters a culture of data security within your company, minimising the risk of breaches and data leaks. This, in turn, builds trust with your customers and demonstrates your commitment to protecting their privacy.
Ultimately, a data protection policy isn't just about compliance; it's about building trust, safeguarding sensitive information, and fostering a responsible approach to data within your organisation. By prioritising data protection, you can ensure your business operates ethically, builds strong customer relationships, and thrives in the digital age.
