How much data does your company hold?

How much data does your company hold?

If you are starting a business or if you have an established business already, you need to make sure that you are following data protection laws.

How much data does your company hold?

If you are starting a business or if you have an established business already, you need to make sure that you are following data protection laws. You should conduct a data protection audit where you map out where all of the data in your business flows: which departments it goes to, how it comes in, how it leaves, and what the data journey looks like within your business. Once you’ve completed this audit, don’t just put it away—it’s a working document. Every time you consider introducing a new process, first conduct an impact assessment: Where is the data going to go? What are you collecting? Is it adequate? Does it follow all the data protection guidelines? Once you’ve determined that it does, add it to that audit so you’re continually mapping its journey through your business. Once you know how data comes in and where it’s going, you can then write your policy documents, such as your website’s privacy notice, to explain what happens with the data when you collect it. You also need to inform people about what happens with the cookies on your website because cookies are part of data protection—they involve capturing data. So, what cookies do you have on your website? What do they do? And can people disable them?