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Osano’s Privacy Platform can help you comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Osano gets you up and running quickly with capabilities for managing consent, templates and workflows for privacy assessments like Record of Processing Activity (RoPAs), automation for fast and accurate data subject access requests (DSARs), and more.
When EU citizens visit your website, you need to provide the appropriate disclosures and consent options based on their local DPA. Osano detects the geolocation of EU visitors and automatically displays the relevant banner, blocking all data trackers until the visitor agrees to their use or to specific categories of data trackers.
When a data subject makes a request under the GDPR, you have to meet that request within 30 days. Responding to DSARs takes time away from more strategic initiatives, and 30 days can go by pretty quick if you experience a high volume of requests. Osano streamlines the subject rights request process, automates common request types, and enables a faster, more accurate workflow.
If you’ve ever had to depend on manual spreadsheets or the limited capacity of your organization’s data analysts, you know that mapping your organization’s personal data stores is a time-consuming, reactive task.
Osano Data Mapping provides a privacy-focused data mapping solution that dramatically accelerates the mapping process and reduces errors through automation.
Osano Vendor Privacy Risk Management can help you identify vendors who can give your customers’ data the protection it deserves. Osano helps you conduct required vendor assessments, tracks vendor privacy changes and new lawsuits, and generates a proprietary Vendor Score to help you assess privacy practices at a glance.
When you work with Osano, we’ll serve as your required GDPR representative. Our subsidiary, Osano Compliance Services International, is based in Dublin, where our local team of privacy experts and attorneys are at your service to help with all EU-related issues.
GDPR compliance can seem pretty intimidating—especially if you’re trying to figure out where to start. Download this checklist to discover 8 steps to build your foundation.
"Osano is simplifying our international expansion and giving our exec team peace of mind with privacy compliance. It also has allowed us to conserve developer resources with its "one line JS" model."
Ryan W
CEO, G2 Review
"Osano helped us get into cookie compliance in a customer-friendly and consistent manner. Looking forward to spending less time worrying about keeping up with legal changes with Osano looking out for the many coming changes in data compliance."
Aaron L
G2 Reviewer
"The Osano team is very knowledgeable, helpful, and accessible. I know I can expect a thoughtful and prompt response to all my questions. The platform is intuitive, easy to implement, and enables us to holistically monitor privacy compliance. We really could not be happier."
Ivanna C
G2 Reviewer
"The platform is highly intuitive, and the team has extensive legal knowledge of privacy regulations. Everything in the platform is set up for easy completion; you hardly need to contact the team for questions."
Lilla M
Digital Marketing Manager, G2 Reviewer
"We like that [Osano] is an all-in-one solution and that it automatically searches our site to keep us compliant."
Glen B
Director of Compliance and Commissions, G2 Review
"It is hard to keep track of third-party cookies in an enterprise where several departments can add cookies. Osano helps take that back under control."
Martin V
Information Security Officer and Software Quality Manager, G2 Review
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GDPR compliance can be tricky.
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Schedule a demoThe General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may be years old at this point, but it’s unlikely that GDPR compliance will ever be “solved.” Businesses will still need to contend with its web of requirements, exemptions, stipulations, penalties, and other intricacies for the first time. Over time, this web can be untangled, and you can achieve compliance.
Over the course of your journey towards compliance, however, GDPR compliance software will be an essential tool. In this article, we’ll walk through some of the GDPR’s major requirements, and how those requirements can be solved or supported with the right tools at your side.
So, what exactly is the GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of regulations that standardizes data protection laws across all EU member states. It gives individuals greater control over their personal data and imposes obligations on organizations that collect and process this data. Implemented in May 2018, the regulation aims to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens. It applies not only to EU businesses but also to any organization outside the EU that processes the data of EU residents.
The GDPR provides a comprehensive framework for the protection of personal data. It defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes names, addresses, email addresses, financial information, IP addresses, or any other information that could be used to identify a natural person.
The law also has a fairly wide reach, and your organization may be subject to it even if you aren’t based out of the EU. You must comply with the GDPR if you meet any of the following:
While enumerating the individual requirements of the GDPR is out of this article’s scope, you can get a sense of its requirements by understanding the seven core principles that inform the law:
These principles translate into much more specific requirements, such as:
The GDPR also introduces certain rights for individuals, such as the right to access their personal data, the right to rectify inaccurate data, and the right to be forgotten. These rights empower individuals to take control of their personal information and ensure its accuracy and security.
Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) investigate all complaints, provide advice on data protection matters, and take action against businesses that violate GDPR requirements. Unfortunately, each EU member state has its own DPA, who has their own particular guidance on the law. This can make complying with the GDPR across the entire EU very tricky for organizations who choose to take on compliance without seeking outside help.
GDPR compliance is not just about avoiding fines, but with that said, the penalties for noncompliance can become very expensive very quickly. Noncompliant businesses can be fined over 4% of annual global revenue or €20 million, whichever is the higher figure.
GDPR compliance is also about building trust and enhancing customer relationships. By demonstrating compliance, businesses can show their commitment to protecting customer data and differentiate themselves in an increasingly data-driven world. When organizations comply with GDPR, they are more likely to gain the trust of their customers. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of data privacy and are more likely to choose businesses that prioritize the protection of their personal information.
In fact, according to research from the International Association of Privacy Professionals:
What’s more, becoming compliant with the GDPR also forces you to shore up your data management and cybersecurity practices. If you don’t know where data lives in your organization or where it flows, you can’t protect it. Research shows that companies with inadequate data privacy practices are 80% more likely to suffer a breach than those with robust privacy practices. In part, this is because GDPR compliance prompts businesses to assess their data collection and processing practices, identify potential vulnerabilities, and implement appropriate security measures.
With the promise of reduced legal risk, better consumer trust, and stronger cybersecurity, compliance with the GDPR seems like a straightforward decision. But compliance isn’t necessarily easy—that’s why businesses seek out GDPR compliance software.
When selecting GDPR compliance software, it is essential to consider the features that align with your business needs. Here are some key features to look out for.
Under the GDPR, businesses must respond to data subject access requests (DSARs) within one month of receipt of the request. If you have one or two requests a month, you might not mind the inefficiency of responding to DSARs manually. But as that number climbs up, not only will you be taking up more of your team’s time responding to DSARs rather than other important initiatives, you’ll run the risk of missing the DSAR deadline or worse—responding to DSARs inaccurately or with other individuals’ personal data.
That’s why GDPR compliance software should come with support for DSAR processes. This can take the form of support for the DSAR workflow, improved communications with data subjects, better coordination with internal stakeholders, and even automation for standard request types.
Obtaining and managing consent is a crucial aspect of GDPR compliance. Look for software that offers tools to secure, execute on, track, and store consent records effectively.
Consent management is a critical requirement under GDPR, and the software should provide comprehensive features to handle this process efficiently. At first blush, this task can seem fairly straightforward—just permit or block the data trackers on your site based on visitors’ indicated choices. This ignores the fact that doing so requires a significant amount of technical work, which translates into taking up time that your engineers could spend on your product or service.
Furthermore, each EU member state has its own requirements on cookie banner design and functionality. Tracking these requirements (which can change and evolve) also is a seriously time-consuming task.
Article 30 of the GDPR requires businesses to develop and maintain “records of processing activity” or RoPAs. Specifically, these documents must include:
If your organization is a processor rather than a controller, then you must provide:
Obviously, this can become quite time-consuming without automated support. GDPR compliance software should provide some means of supporting the creation and maintenance of RoPAs—otherwise, you’ll need to dedicate a significant amount of time to maintaining this crucial document.
Some GDPR compliance software is capable of generating a map of all the data throughout your organization
Beyond RoPAs, you’ll also need to conduct mandated assessments like Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) under certain circumstances. According to the GDPR:
Where a type of processing in particular using new technologies, and taking into account the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing, is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, the controller shall, prior to the processing, carry out an assessment of the impact of the envisaged processing operations on the protection of personal data.
GDPR compliance software can support the DPIA workflow by guiding you through the assessment process; storing completed assessments in a central, secure location; and automatically disparate personnel throughout the organization about assessments they’ve been assigned to.
When evaluating GDPR compliance software, make sure to evaluate your:
And crucially, recall that GDPR compliance isn’t a one-and-done affair; your business will change, the laws will change, and best practices will change. In addition to the software solution itself, make sure to evaluate the team behind that solution. Will they support your implementation process? Will they provide ongoing guidance? Are they knowledgeable and pleasant to work with? Often, it can be easy to forget that the team behind your GDPR compliance software is an element of your overall GDPR compliance solution.
At Osano, we take that responsibility seriously. So much so, we offer the industry’s only “No Fines. No Penalties.” Pledge. Our implementation and support team are dedicated to our customers’ success, and we regularly listen for common concerns and challenges our customers are facing so that we can adjust our product roadmap accordingly.
Armed with the knowledge you received in this article, why not schedule a demo of Osano to see whether it can serve as your organization’s GDPR compliance software solution?
With Osano, building, managing, and scaling your privacy program becomes simple. Schedule a demo or try a free 30-day trial today.