How a GDPR system can help you

As a rule, a GDPR system consists of one or more tools designed to help companies manage and protect personal data in a way that complies with GDPR.

While using software is not a requirement for GDPR compliance, it certainly can help. Obviously, your company is free to handle sensitive information manually. However, a manual approach to GDPR compliance involves loads of paperwork and manual monitoring of data processing activities, which are both complicated and time-consuming. Instead, choosing an automated system to handle GDPR saves time by letting technology streamline your compliance.

Here are some common types of tools often found in a GDPR system:

• Data discovery tools: Identify and map where you store personal data and how you process it throughout your organisation. Data discovery is essential to gain a clear understanding of the data flow and identify potential risks.
• Request portal tools (DSR portals): Receive, verify and respond on time when people make specific requests about their data. Request portals can also help you collect and send data securely, with everything logged in case of audit.
• Risk assessment tools: Risk assessment tools can evaluate and quantify the risks of processing personal data. They help you identify potential threats and vulnerabilities and develop strategies to mitigate risks.
• Access management tools: These tools allow you to control who has access to personal data and what they can do with it. In this way, you can make sure that data is only accessible to people who need to use it.
• Data breach tools: These tools monitor and detect abnormal activities that may indicate a potential data breach. Before a breach occurs, put these systems in place to be alerted to security breaches in time to respond.
• Safe email portals: Tools that encrypt and secure personal data, especially during transfer and storage. This helps fulfil the GDPR requirement of “data protection by design and by default.”
• Reporting tools: These tools let you create reports and audit trails that you can use to improve your own processes. Meanwhile, you will also have them ready to present to supervisory authorities in case of an audit.
• Consent management tools: Customise, manage and track consent forms. This is crucial whenever you use consent as a legal basis to collect and process people’s data.
• Awareness and training tools: Tools that support employee education and training on data protection and GDPR, which is essential to ensure staff know the rules and comply with them.

Overall, the exact tools a company needs can vary depending on its size, industry, and complexity of their data processing activities.

Using a GDPR system, rather than taking a manual approach to protecting data, has several key benefits that can make the process of protecting personal data more manageable. Here are some of the benefits of choosing a GDPR system, to list just a few:

1. Better protections: GDPR systems often offer advanced security features, including encryption and access control, thus effectively protecting personal data and reducing the risk of human error.
2. Time-saving: A GDPR system automates many of the processes involved in complying with data protection regulations. This reduces the need for manual actions, saving time.
3. Compliance: A good GDPR system is designed to keep up with and respond to changes in legislation. This ensures you stay up-to-date and compliant with the latest requirements,
4. Management: Get centralised management of all data protection activities. Indeed,  you are responsible for how everyone in your company handles data. Therefore, you will need an easy way to monitor employee compliance.
5. Data breaches: An automated system can help detect anrespond to potential data breaches faster than manual processes. Without delay, investigate, report and mitigate the effectds of a breach.
6. Documentation: Some GDPR systems automate report generation, both to monitor your own data protection progress and demonstrate it to regulators when audited.

Above all, choosing the right GDPR system and tools should be based on your business. With this in mind, here are some considerations to keep in mind when choosing a GDPR system:

• What types of personal data do you handle and how much?
• What are your most labor-intensive GDPR tasks?
• Is the GDPR system you are considering easy to implement and use?
• Does the GDPR system fit with your existing IT systems and work processes?
• How much can you afford to spend on a GDPR system?
• How much will it save you in GDPR fines and reputational damage in the long run?

Once you’ve chosen a system the next thing to consider is whether the system provider is reliable. For example, will the provider give good customer service and provide regular system updates that keep up with regulations?

A GDPR system is an effective aid to compliance. Not to mention, an investment in the future success and credibility of your business. By using an effective system, companies can safely navigate the complex task of protecting personal data.

At Safe Online, we have created the GDPR system PrivacyHub for this purpose. In brief, PrivacyHub makes it easier to handle personal data under GDPR. PrivacyHub has three tools that make it easy to manage sensitive data. While DataMapper is a data discovery tool, ShareSimple is an email portal tool and RequestManager is a request portal tool.