GDPR compliance solutions help DPOs save time and be efficient in their compliance project. They must offer a certain number of essential functionalities, otherwise they will not comply with market standards.
The global GDPR-related services market is estimated to be worth $2 billion in 2022. It is expected to reach a size of $7.4 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% over the analysis period (2022 / 2030).
GDPR compliance solutions, one of the leading segments of this market, is expected to register a CAGR of 16.9% and reach $4.4 billion by the end of the forecast period, according to a study (EN) titled “GDPR Services: Global Strategic Business Report” and published by research firm Research and Markets.
1) The diagnosis: to assess its level of GDPR maturity
GDPR compliance solutions include a number of features that allow companies to carry out their compliance project. Among them, first of all is the ability to diagnose the state of progress of compliance with GDPR.
The “diagnosis” functionality (we can also speak of an audit) makes it possible to measure the gaps between the current situation of the company and the requirements for the protection of personal data. The diagnosis is a preliminary step to any structured action plan. It facilitates the identification of areas for improvement for the implementation of an effective and sustainable strategy.
It can be carried out using questionnaires written by the experts of the solution publisher, using models provided by the software or even questionnaires designed directly by the client company. This approach is global, it must cover all the legal, organizational and technical measures related to GDPR compliance.
2) Mapping: to map the processing of personal data
One of the essential functionalities of GDPR compliance solutions is the mapping of personal data processing. It provides a 360° view of the personal data processed by the company, whether as a data controller or as a subcontractor.
To be able to measure the impact of GDPR on the activities of the company and meet its requirements, the CNIL reminds that any organization must precisely identify the different processing of personal data that it implements, as well as the categories of personal data concerned, the objectives pursued by the data processing operations, the actors (internal or external) who intervene on this data (including subcontractor service providers) and the various flows, indicating the origin and destination of the data, in particular to identify any data transfers outside the European Union.
3) Management of requests to exercise rights
People whose data is processed by a company can exercise a number of rights: right of access, rectification, opposition, erasure, right to portability and limitation of processing. GDPR compliance solutions offer interfaces allowing data subjects (consumers, prospects, customers, employees, partners, etc.) to easily exercise these rights.
Once the requests have been made, it is important to centralize them within a single console and notify the department or departments or persons responsible for their execution. At the level of the company’s information system, it is also necessary to provide the technical tools that will allow the proper consideration of these feedbacks.
For example, for the right to portability, a possible technical implementation consists in providing a functionality allowing the data subject to download his data in a standard format readable by a computer (CSV, XML, JSON, etc.)
Infotel’s Deepeo software is an on-premise software solution that operates directly in companies’ IS. Its on-premise Agents make it possible to apply and automate the GDPR at the heart of customer databases. For the right to erasure, for example, it is all the data held by a company about a person that must be erased, even in backups or recovery solutions, as well as in databases. possible subcontractors.
4) Identification and description of data breaches
A data breach is a security incident, of malicious origin or not and occurring intentionally or not, having the consequence of compromising the integrity, confidentiality or availability of personal data.
GDPR introduces the obligation to record, in an internal register, all personal data breaches. In some cases, it also provides for notifying the breach to the CNIL and communicating the breach to the persons whose personal data has been affected.
Most GDPR compliance solutions provide an interface to identify, list and describe the violations suffered. Centralizing them provides a global view that facilitates the analysis of the severity of each incident and better coordination of remedial actions to be implemented.
5) Assessment of the risks associated with the processing of personal data
In order to save valuable time for DPOs, GDPR compliance solutions offer functionalities to automatically assess the risk associated with the processing of personal data and to carry out impact analyses relating to data protection (DPIA). The DPIAs are important tools for the accountability of organizations: they help them not only to build privacy-friendly data processing, but also to demonstrate their compliance with GDPR. They are mandatory for processing likely to generate high risks.
A DPIA contains at least a systematic description of the processing operations envisaged and the purposes of the processing, an assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the processing operations with regard to the purposes, an assessment of the risks to the rights and freedoms of the persons concerned, and the measures envisaged to deal with the risks, including the safeguards, measures and security mechanisms aimed at ensuring the protection of personal data and providing proof of compliance with the Regulation.
The five key features described above allow DPOs to complete their compliance project more quickly. They offer them tools and interfaces that contribute to more rigor, communication and collaboration between the stakeholders of such a project, whether internally or externally.