With the rapid advancement of technology and the growing volume of personal information circulating on the internet, data protection has become a central concern for companies and individuals. In this context, the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) emerged as an important piece of legislation to safeguard people's privacy and freedom in the digital universe.
What is the LGPD?
The LGPD (General Data Protection Law) was created primarily to protect people's privacy and freedom.
Additionally, the law created a standard to regulate data protection. Until then, there was nothing official and companies did not suffer sanctions in case of sharing data without people's authorization.
Thus, the LGPD was created in 2018 but it was in 2020 that it came into effect. In addition, the sanctions provided for in the law began to apply a year later, in 2021.
This whole process took a while to happen because, in fact, there are several adaptations that need to happen in companies. In this sense, both small and large companies needed to undergo changes.
As a result, your personal data is now more secure than in the past. And with that, you can fill out forms and registrations with more peace of mind nowadays.
What is Data Protection
When we talk about data protection we are referring to processes and strategies related to data integrity against unauthorized access.
In this way, when there is data protection, there is a building of greater trust with employees, customers and suppliers if applicable.
On the other hand, when a leak of personal information happens, the reverse effect is observed. People begin to distrust the company, and end up choosing to buy from competitors in future situations.
In this sense, having an internal data protection organization is necessary. Especially if the company collects, maintains and uses personal and confidential information from its employees, customers or suppliers.
This is because with a data protection system the organization is protected and prepared to minimize damage in any case of data leakage or improper access.
What is data privacy
The concept of data privacy deals with the level of access to data. It is from data privacy initiatives that it becomes clear who owns and who defines what access will be within a company.
Some data that goes into data privacy policies include birthdays, names, identification numbers such as RG and CPF, financial information, contact information and medical information.
This type of information is frequently collected by companies, so it is necessary to work with data privacy so that only people with clearance can access customer, employee and supplier data.
When strict control is in place, it is much easier to identify malicious access to data. That's because you know exactly who has access to which type of information, and an attacker is easily identified.
Introduction to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy document determines the responsibilities and duties of those accessing the company's website.
Usually this document is long because it specifies in detail everything you as a user of a site need to know.
Even though the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are very important, most people don't read them. However, even if this is the reality, the document must be available for people to access freely.
The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are useful for users to understand the limits of the platform in question. But also, so that incorrect and/or offensive statements are eliminated.
The importance of the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Many people believe that these documents only serve as a bureaucracy. On websites and platforms, when they register, they end up just accepting the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
If you read these documents you are part of a minority of people. But it is possible that the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are required in delicate situations, for example.
In this context, an issue that should be clarified is the difference between Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The first talks about the rights and duties when using a website or online platform.
On the other hand, the Privacy Policy is an essential document for companies that follow the LGPD. This is because it is the document that talks about the collection and processing of other people's data. The Privacy Policy must ensure that any type of data is preserved. Thus, from the simplest data to the most sensitive, protection is guaranteed.
The growing importance of data security for corporations
In the past, many companies stored customer information in notebooks or offline systems. However, as time went by and technology developed, this started to happen in online systems.
This change made it much easier for companies to control customers. In addition, with process automation and Artificial Intelligence, it is possible to make reports and analyzes that were not feasible before. This is because this type of activity requires a quick analysis of a lot of data and information.
While there are many advantages for corporations, all of this has a downside as well. In this sense, companies increasingly need to invest in data protection solutions.
How the LGPD inspection takes place
As the LGPD is a law, there is an institution behind the inspection. This is called ANPD (National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data).
However, in addition to the ANPD, there are also data processing agents. These agents can be a controller, operator and foreman. Each of these people has a different role in ensuring the privacy and security of people's personal information.
Different from what happened in the past, today there are fines for cases of security failure. Fines can reach up to 2% of the annual revenue of the company that had a security breach. However, there is a limit to the fines. Thus, each infraction can have a fine of a maximum of R$ 50 million.
The numbers are really high and that is why it is essential that companies follow current legislation. The big goal is to have no leaks and keep personal information safe. Therefore, organizations need to act, and if they are not already following the guidelines of the law, they must urgently make changes.
Maintenance and updating of data security processes after the implementation of the LGPD
With the emergence of the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) data security has become more structured. By putting the principles of the Law into practice, it is possible to better control personal data and have access to them in an organized way.
In order to adapt the company to this new reality, it is necessary to make a series of changes and investments. And then, after everything is implemented, the work of maintenance and updating begins.
These final steps are important because the world is constantly changing. There are more and more scams and new ways to invade company systems. Thus, their protocols and ways of ensuring data protection need to be updated.
Promoting a culture of information security among employees
The employees of a company are very important to maintain information security and data security. This is because it is these people who have access to the systems, and who use the data for analysis or protection.
Creating a culture of data security is therefore essential. This can happen through special events. It may also be interesting to carry out in-company training on the subject.
And at all times, make it clear that it is unethical to share any personal information about a customer or even a co-worker. Knowing these guidelines and the company's processes, employees will have greater adherence to this culture.
That way, everyone benefits. Customers trust the corporation as a whole, which includes employees. People who are working understand the importance of what they do and contribute to a better reputation. And, without a doubt, the value of the company increases, the number of sales goes up and the revenue grows.
Contact our team and learn more about our Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) services.