The Intersection of Information Governance and Privacy Compliance

Information governance is a framework for managing data by establishing policies and procedures for how information is created, stored, used, valued, and deleted. IG policies and procedures determine the overall performance and direction of an organization’s content strategy. Because content and data sources increase exponentially, organizations must be motivated to focus more attention and resources on strategically managing and securing their content.

Compliance, on the other hand, describes the processes organizations put in place to demonstrate they are adhering to the requirements of laws, contracts, policies, and regulations that govern data.  For example, the CPRA, which amends the CCPA, adopts the GDPR storage limitation principle.  Record retention practices and storage limitation are key data processing principles under the GDPR.  Personal data must be stored only as long as needed to achieve the purpose for which it was collected.  The goal of the retention and storage limitation principles is to minimize risks to the privacy and security of personal data.  The longer a business retains personal data, the greater the chances for unauthorized or unlawful access, use or disclosure of that data.

Therein lies the intersection of privacy compliance and information governance. They’re both designed to protect against the same risks.  However, information governance establishes the organization’s practices and risk tolerance, while compliance ensures these practices are followed and the organization remains within the bounds of the law.  Success for both programs starts with an up-to-date data map as it’s the best way to know what data you have, where it’s stored, how it’s being used, and who has access.

When data is well managed and regularly deleted according to sound information governance practices, risks and costs are reduced.  The organization will benefit from the following:

• Hackers can’t steal what you don’t have. 
• Security dollars can be utilized to protect important data, not ROT. 
• The risk of sensitive data being exposed is reduced.
• eDiscovery costs are reduced as fewer documents are collected and reviewed.
• Privacy compliance confidence is increased while the risk of data breaches, non-compliance fines and sanctions, and loss of consumer trust and brand loyalty are reduced.

Data is a strategic asset. Get your information governance right, and you are well on the way to privacy compliance.

At ID, we take a holistic approach to data governance and believe strong policies and practices make all workstreams more efficient and cost effective.  Information governance is not what we do, it’s who we are.

Learn more about where you are in your data journey and how our team of experts can assist in driving a successful information governance program that is compliant with all data privacy laws.

Learn about ID’s Information Governance solutions here: www.id-edd.com/information-governance

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