No matter their size or industry, all organizations that handle personal data information are required to comply with the applicable data protection laws of their country or region.
In order to ensure you’re compliant with data protection laws, you have two options: outsourcing data compliance services or keeping them in-house. Outsourcing typically looks like hiring a lawyer who specializes in data protection or working with a team of data privacy experts who build and automate your privacy program.
Although there are benefits to both approaches, this blog post focuses on the various direct and indirect benefits that companies experience when outsourcing privacy services.
Perceived Challenges of Outsourced Data Compliance
Since the inception of data protection and privacy regulations, many types of services have evolved in order to ensure that personal data is protected and businesses are in compliance with their countries’ privacy laws. These services include digital process operation as a service, privacy automation services, appointment of data protection officers, privacy compliance services, and more. This has provided multiple options for executing data compliance.
Many organizations are hesitant to outsource their data compliance services for a number of reasons, including:
- Potential loss of control of risk management
- Slipping standards because the process is one step removed
- Fear that services will not deliver according to the set expectations, resulting in poor service and potentially fines
These are credible hesitations; after all, responsibility for noncompliance falls on the organization that deals with the personal information.
Nevertheless, these concerns can be alleviated with the right structures, key performance indicators, shared systems, and communication frameworks that allow both your company and the outsourced provider to be on the same page.
5 Key Benefits of Outsourcing Data Compliance
Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to data compliance. Most companies that deal with personal data maintain compliance with an angle that includes a certain amount of in-house compliance efforts in addition to outsourced solutions. Companies can save time and money by outsourcing services at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time team of data experts.
In-house solutions are often used in the following scenarios:
- A compliance element requires an understanding of a unique business process.
- An element depends on knowing confidential information about your organization.
- A business is struggling with a certain element of compliance. Even if this element is outsourced eventually, the issue should be resolved before that happens.
Here are five direct and indirect benefits you can experience by outsourcing data compliance efforts to a vendor:
1. Access to Data Privacy Experts
Outsourcing data compliance to a company is an opportunity to work with data specialists who specialize in different industries and types of data protection. They can provide:
- A consultative, tailored data privacy strategy that ensures compliance from the outset
- Support, guidance, and expert recommendations
They can also act as an extension of an internal data compliance team.
2. An Added Layer of Accountability
Outsourced data compliance provides an objective perspective. Because of the detachment from your organization, they can provide an independent, unbiased perspective on your data privacy policy. This also tends to be well received by regulatory authorities in the US and in Europe.
3. Remote Support
If your goal is to save on costs, remote support provides savings on overhead, especially hiring data experts and purchasing equipment and software. Unless you are working with data privacy lawyers, you are likely to work with a team that uses compliance software, which can eventually be completed on autopilot.
4. Additional Resources
Depending on the company, your compliance partner can provide online resources including a knowledge center, guides, blog articles, and trainings to make the process of compliance more understandable and familiar.
5. The Ability to Focus on Your Business Efforts
By outsourcing your compliance, you have the time and resources to focus on core competencies and to grow your business, leading to improved business efficiency. Meanwhile, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you have a robust compliance foundation that helps to build trust with your customers.
Get Outsourced Data Compliance from the Experts at Dataships
At Dataships, we think data compliance should be easy and not the nuisance so many companies find it to be when they do the work on their own.
By working with our software and team of data privacy experts, you will have a robust data privacy strategy to help you meet compliance. The best part is that we do all the heavy lifting while you focus on your business goals.
