Could the Golden Record be the answer to your data security efforts?

Tuesday, Jun 28th 2022
Closeup view of man`s hand using laptop with virtual digital screen with icon of lock on it.

With the GDPR set to come into effect in 2018, many organizations are now recognising the potential failings in the way they handle customer data, and looking to correct these. For instance, 29 percent of respondents to a 2016 study of banking priorities by Computer Services Inc., said that managing compliance will be one of the biggest challenges they will face in the coming year.

While according to SAS, in September 2017, 59 percent of business respondents still aren’t sure the actions they are taking to comply are sufficient. With only 11 percent of organizations claiming to be “ready” for the GDPR in another survey, it is clear that a majority still have many hurdles to cross. 

While at Quadient we are primarily focused on the issue of privacy and data control, a Golden Record can still be a valuable asset when ensuring the security of customers’ data. Many organizations have chosen to follow the GDPR by focusing on security technologies such as firewalls, anti-virus and encryption. However, simply controlling data itself is a critical asset to any security strategy. A true Golden Record, such as that provided by Quadient, can protect data in several ways. 

First, there is access control. Quite simply, the fewer people that can access, view, modify, remove and export data, the safer that data is: as the chances of an accidental or deliberate leak of information is greatly reduced. 

Controlling access to a single Golden Record is much simpler than controlling access to multiple, disparate data stores, meaning the organization can have much greater ownership over who is able to access customer data. Golden Records also aid investigation in the event of possible compromise. 

In September 2017, 59% of business professionals worldwide were not confident they are taking sufficient actions to be GDPR compliant

A true Golden Record will have a verifiable audit trail, meaning every action taken and modification made can be tracked and suspicious activity quickly recognised and investigated. 

More in-depth action logs are also available in solutions such as Privacy compliance by Quadient, meaning that the data controller may gain a greater understanding of what changes or efforts at access have been made, where, when and by whom; allowing them to gain a greater understanding of data use, and identify the signs of culprits behind suspicious behaviour. 

To explore this topic further, and learn how a Golden Record might help your organization to be prepared for the GDPR, we invite you to download this free white paper: “How to meet the Gold Standard for data privacy”