GDPR Compliance in Software Development: Best Practices and Considerations
The regulations that companies have to comply with can be almost infinitely complex. This ranges from very general legal regulations to stock exchange-relevant rules and information to very industry-specific guidelines. These often affect the business processes themselves, such as their implementation by IT. Therefore, IT and specialist departments usually have to work hand in hand on such topics. GDPR Compliance in Software Development tips help to ensure that the guidelines are properly reflected in the Best Practices and Considerations.
How To Prepare for GDPR Compliance in Software Development Fulfillment?
The introduction of GDPR is set to push data protection to the top of businesses’ priority lists. So how can businesses ensure they are compliant and what steps should they take?
Let’s look at the six steps below.
Understanding the GDPR legal framework
The first step to ensuring compliance is to understand the legislation in force , as well as the implications of not complying with the required standards, by conducting a compliance audit with the GDPR legal framework.
Part of this compliance audit, no matter the size of the company, is done by hiring a data protection technician to explain the regulations and apply them to the business. This person should have a combined legal and technological background so that they understand both the regulatory framework and the technical specifications needed to comply with it. As each organization is unique, the path to GDPR compliance will also be different. The correct direction of leaders within the business needs to be adapted to this.
Create a data record
Once companies have a clearer idea of their willingness to comply with regulatory requirements, they should keep a record of the process. This should be done through maintaining a Data Registry – essentially a GDPR diary. Each country has a Data Protection Association (DPA), which will be responsible for enforcing the GDPR.
It is this organization that will judge whether a company has been compliant by determining possible sanctions for non-compliance. If a breach occurs during the initial implementation phase, the company must be able to show the DPA its progress toward compliance through its Data Log.
If there is no evidence that the company has initiated the process, the DPA could impose a fine of between 2% and 4% of a company's turnover, depending on the sensitivity of the data breached. The nature of the data could cause the DPA to move the fine to the company much more quickly.
Classify the data
This step is about understanding what data companies need to protect and how it is being done. Firstly, companies must find personally identifiable information (PII) – information that can identify someone directly or indirectly – from EU citizens. It is important to identify where it is stored, who has access to it, who it is shared with, etc.
They can then determine which data is most vital to protect, based on its classification . This also means knowing who is responsible for controlling and processing data, and ensuring that all the correct contracts are in place.
Start with the main priority
Once data has been identified, it is important to begin evaluating the data, including how it is being produced and protected . With any data or application, the first priority should be protecting user privacy . When looking at most private data or applications, companies should always ask themselves if they really need that information and why. This data is always of greatest value to a hacker and therefore has the greatest risk of being breached.
Companies must complete a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) of all security policies, assessing data lifecycles from source to destruction. It is important to remember when doing this, the rights of EU citizens, including data portability and restriction of processing. The “right to be forgotten” is also one to consider as part of GDPR.
This is third-party data that can be used to identify someone and must be deleted upon request. It is vital that this data is properly destroyed and cannot be accessed.
From here, companies should evaluate their data protection strategies – how exactly they are protecting data (for example, with encryption, tokenization, or pseudonymization). This should focus on the data that is being produced, the data that has been backed up - whether in-house or in the cloud - and the historical data that can be used for analytical purposes.
Companies must ask themselves how they are anonymizing this data to protect the privacy and identification of the citizens with whom they interact. It must always be kept in mind that data must be protected from the day it is collected, until the day it is no longer needed and then it must be destroyed correctly.
Assess and document additional risks and processes
Aside from the most sensitive data, the next stage is to assess and document other risks, to find out where the business may be most vulnerable during other processes.
Businesses need to maintain a roadmap document to show the DPA how and when they are going to address these outstanding risks. It is these actions that show the DPA that the business is taking compliance and data protection seriously.
Review and repeat
The last step is to review the result of the previous steps and remediate any possible deletions, modifications, and updates where necessary. Once this is complete, companies should determine their next priorities and repeat the process from step four.
Best Practices For GDPR Compliance
Know the definitions of data protection
The main definitions of the current Law will generally remain unchanged under the GDPR. If you have a good understanding of the concepts of "personal data", "sensitive personal data", etc., you can transfer these to your understanding of the GDPR.
Knowing your processing terrain
The processing basis your business currently relies on will likely be the same as under the GDPR . The “legitimate business interest” is still present in the GDPR. But you need to be careful, however, to make sure you are executing it properly, as the GDPR puts new and increased obligations on you .
Know our high-risk activities
Under the terms of the GDPR, organizations must take a risk-based approach to data processing activities. For security, there is an obligation to carry out a privacy impact assessment to determine the level of risk of a given activity. In practical terms, this usually means that a company needs to assess all of its activities to identify those that are high-risk – a potentially lengthy exercise.
Knowing when to report a violation
If you are processing data within the EU and a data breach occurs that could result in harm to data subjects, the organization is legally required to notify the local Data Protection Authority . However, not all violations require notification, and the deadline (72 hours) could be very difficult to achieve. You need to review your violation management procedures to be sure.
Know the rights of those affected
All current rights of those affected will remain in place, and most are being expanded. To manage these rights, you should focus on providing correct and detailed processing notices, streamlining access requests from data subjects, ensuring efficient procedures for managing "rectification and deletion" requests, as well as processing restrictions when a subject has raised a request. rectification that has not been resolved.
Know your profile
Profiling is a form of automated decision-making that is based on personal data. Those affected do not have the right to avoid being profiled, but they do have the right not to be subjected to a decision based on purely automated profiles.
There are numerous guidelines regarding the profile of stored data. These include the need to:
Notify the affected party at the time the data is collected that profiling will occur, the logic behind the creation of such profiles and the expected consequences of profiling.
Respond to those affected who are interested in knowing whether they have been profiled and the consequences.
Have the automated decision reviewed by a human being if requested by the interested party.
Knowing about international data transfers
Companies with subsidiaries inside and outside the EU should take note of the inclusion of Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) in the GDPR. A mechanism for intra-company transfers around the world. Given the current threats to other mechanisms such as standard contractual clauses and Privacy Shield, BCRs will be an attractive option for many companies after May 2018.
To Wrap Things Up
The GDPR harmonizes data protection within the member states of the European Union. This regulation strengthens the data protection of citizens of the European Union.
GDPR compliance is a guarantee of security that data is hosted in the EU and helps your business avoid costly penalties for non-compliance. Being GDPR compliant also ensures that you save time and reduce errors in risk management, respectful management of personal data, and an environment of trust with your users.