Security · · Davi Netto
How an independent review can help your company protect data
Why a review by someone outside your company reveals flaws in how personal data is handled that the internal team can't see.
Raise your hand if you followed Facebook’s many stumbles over its users’ privacy and the many violations the company committed when handling personal data! ✋🏻
Who would have thought: why is a corporation as big as Facebook committing these violations, even with so many resources to make sure its corporate practices comply with each country’s laws? Because it’s “bad for business”.
Of course I’m being ironic, and it’s no news that these violations are routine practice for the Big 5 (Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft), but we’re here to talk about your company. How has your company been handling personal data? What policies govern your employees’ daily work? How is each type of information handled in your process? How do you make sure the rules are being followed?
If your internal audit team finds a violation or vulnerability disruptive enough to make you redesign an entire production process, will it be done?
The role of an independent review
An independent review is a way to correct biased reviews that may happen within the organization. Precisely because it’s carried out by an entity or person from outside the organization or department, an independent review aims to scrutinize the handling of personal data, information security and the application of established policies throughout the production process.
Its independence ensures the continued suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the organization’s approach to data security, and its results will certainly bring surprising insights.
I did the independent review. Now what?
Every review needs to be followed by decisions in the right direction. The next step is to make the necessary changes, setting deadlines and owners for each task, in the order of priority that suits the business.
Rethinking a procedure and reworking operations is never pleasant, but it’s the price you pay to stay ahead and keep improving your business’s security and protection.
