Data Protection Plan In Research. How much data protection plan should I have? What are the benefits of having a data protection plan? How does it work?
Data protection plans (DPPs) are to protect against the risk of accidental or intentional misuse of personal information. They are also to provide legal recourse for individuals who believe their rights under the law have been violated.
Benefits of Data protection plans
Data protection plans are particularly useful for organizations that collect personal information about employees and customers for various purposes, such as processing payroll or managing customer accounts. Such organizations may have multiple databases, recordkeeping systems, and computer networks.
Data protection plans help ensure that all of the relevant systems within an organization are properly covered by the plan.
A data protection plan usually covers all of the following:
1· Access to personal information
2· Security of personal information
3· Destruction of personal information
4· Retention of personal information
5· Accountability and documentation.
Every employee needs to know in writing about the organization’s data protection plan. Data protection plans are typically reviewed at least annually and revised as needed.
The steps required
1. Organize your records. Begin by gathering together all existing records related to the management of personal information within your organization, including any policies or procedures you have relating to the management of personal information.
2. Identify your databases and recordkeeping systems. Determine which records are subject to federal or provincial privacy legislation, such as payroll records and health records kept by a doctor’s office. Next, identify any other databases and computer networks that contain personal information in electronic form (e.g., spreadsheets containing customer contact information). Finally, identify any other recordkeeping systems that contain paper documents containing personal information (e.g., files containing customer receipts).
3. Designate an individual responsible for implementing the plan. Decide who will be responsible for implementing each element of your organization’s data protection plan (e.g., reviewing plans, overseeing electronic security measures, etc.). You should also decide who will be responsible for maintaining and revising the plan itself (e.g., documenting decisions made during reviews).
The steps to develop an effective data protection plan for your business:
1. Make sure your data protection plan is in plain English.
2. Include a list of all the people who can only view sensitive customer information;
3. Explain who is responsible for safeguarding this information;
4. Describe how the information will be useful;
5. Outline the steps that they must follow if an unauthorized person requests the information;
6. Include a statement that employees will be accountable for following these procedures;
7. Create internal controls that are consistent with these policies;
8. Identify easy ways employees can report violations or problems with these controls;
9. Set up procedures for how breaches should be reported and handled;
10. Include an internal auditor who will periodically review how well these policies are very important;
11. Create a procedure for securing documents containing sensitive customer information and make sure all employees know how to access this information;
12. Make sure your data protection plan is reviewed and updated as often as necessary to reflect changes that must be made;
13. Make sure your data protection plan is safe in a secure location that is accessible only to those who need to use it. That way it will be available when it is needed and at the same time, it will be protected from unauthorized access.