As a Data Protection Officer, one of your roles entails monitoring changes in laws and regulations and updating policies accordingly.
How would you most effectively execute this responsibility?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:
Henry Home Furnishings has built high-end furniture for nearly forty years. However, the new owner, Anton, has found some degree of disorganization after touring the company headquarters. His uncle Henry had always focused on production - not data processing - and Anton is concerned. In several storage rooms, he has found paper files, disks, and old computers that appear to contain the personal data of current and former employees and customers. Anton knows that a single break-in could irrevocably damage the company's relationship with its loyal customers. He intends to set a goal of guaranteed zero loss of personal information.
To this end, Anton originally planned to place restrictions on who was admitted to the physical premises of the company. However, Kenneth - his uncle's vice president and longtime confidante - wants to hold off on Anton's idea in favor of converting any paper records held at the company to electronic storage. Kenneth believes this process would only take one or two years. Anton likes this idea; he envisions a password- protected system that only he and Kenneth can access.
Anton also plans to divest the company of most of its subsidiaries. Not only will this make his job easier, but it will simplify the management of the stored data. The heads of subsidiaries like the art gallery and kitchenware store down the street will be responsible for their own information management. Then, any unneeded subsidiary data still in Anton's possession can be destroyed within the next few years.
After learning of a recent security incident, Anton realizes that another crucial step will be notifying customers. Kenneth insists that two lost hard drives in Question are not cause for concern; all of the data was encrypted and not sensitive in nature. Anton does not want to take any chances, however. He intends on sending notice letters to all employees and customers to be safe.
Anton must also check for compliance with all legislative, regulatory, and market requirements related to privacy protection. Kenneth oversaw the development of the company's online presence about ten years ago, but Anton is not confident about his understanding of recent online marketing laws. Anton is assigning another trusted employee with a law background the task of the compliance assessment. After a thorough analysis, Anton knows the company should be safe for another five years, at which time he can order another check.
Documentation of this analysis will show auditors due diligence.
Anton has started down a long road toward improved management of the company, but he knows the effort is worth it. Anton wants his uncle's legacy to continue for many years to come.
What would the company's legal team most likely recommend to Anton regarding his planned communication with customers?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next question:
Edufox has hosted an annual convention of users of its famous e-learning software platform, and over time, it has become a grand event. It fills one of the large downtown conference hotels and overflows into the others, with several thousand attendees enjoying three days of presentations, panel discussions and networking. The convention is the centerpiece of the company's product rollout schedule and a great training opportunity for current users. The sales force also encourages prospective clients to attend to get a better sense of the ways in which the system can be customized to meet diverse needs and understand that when they buy into this system, they are joining a community that feels like family.
This year's conference is only three weeks away, and you have just heard news of a new initiative supporting it: a smartphone app for attendees. The app will support late registration, highlight the featured presentations and provide a mobile version of the conference program. It also links to a restaurant reservation system with the best cuisine in the areas featured. "It's going to be great," the developer, Deidre Hoffman, tells you, "if, that is, we actually get it working!" She laughs nervously but explains that because of the tight time frame she'd been given to build the app, she outsourced the job to a local firm. "It's just three young people," she says, "but they do great work." She describes some of the other apps they have built. When asked how they were selected for this job, Deidre shrugs. "They do good work, so I chose them." Deidre is a terrific employee with a strong track record. That's why she's been charged to deliver this rushed project. You're sure she has the best interests of the company at heart, and you don't doubt that she's under pressure to meet a deadline that cannot be pushed back. However, you have concerns about the app's handling of personal data and its security safeguards. Over lunch in the break room, you start to talk to her about it, but she quickly tries to reassure you, "I'm sure with your help we can fix any security issues if we have to, but I doubt there'll be any. These people build apps for a living, and they know what they're doing. You worry too much, but that's why you're so good at your job!" You want to point out that normal protocols have not been followed in this matter. Which process in particular has been neglected?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next question:
As the director of data protection for Consolidated Records Corporation, you are justifiably pleased with your accomplishments so far. Your hiring was precipitated by warnings from regulatory agencies following a series of relatively minor data breaches that could easily have been worse. However, you have not had a reportable incident for the three years that you have been with the company. In fact, you consider your program a model that others in the data storage industry may note in their own program development.
You started the program at Consolidated from a jumbled mix of policies and procedures and worked toward coherence across departments and throughout operations. You were aided along the way by the program's sponsor, the vice president of operations, as well as by a Privacy Team that started from a clear understanding of the need for change.
Initially, your work was greeted with little confidence or enthusiasm by the company's "old guard" among both the executive team and frontline personnel working with data and interfacing with clients. Through the use of metrics that showed the costs not only of the breaches that had occurred, but also projections of the costs that easily could occur given the current state of operations, you soon had the leaders and key decision-makers largely on your side. Many of the other employees were more resistant, but face-to-face meetings with each department and the development of a baseline privacy training program achieved sufficient
"buy-in" to begin putting the proper procedures into place.
Now, privacy protection is an accepted component of all current operations involving personal or protected data and must be part of the end product of any process of technological development. While your approach is not systematic, it is fairly effective.
You are left contemplating: What must be done to maintain the program and develop it beyond just a data breach prevention program? How can you build on your success? What are the next action steps?
What stage of the privacy operational life cycle best describes Consolidated's current privacy program?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:
John is the new privacy officer at the prestigious international law firm - A&M LLP. A&M LLP is very proud of its reputation in the practice areas of Trusts & Estates and Merger & Acquisition in both U.S. and Europe.
During lunch with a colleague from the Information Technology department, John heard that the Head of IT, Derrick, is about to outsource the firm's email continuity service to their existing email security vendor - MessageSafe. Being successful as an email hygiene vendor, MessageSafe is expanding its business by leasing cloud infrastructure from Cloud Inc. to host email continuity service for A&M LLP.
John is very concerned about this initiative. He recalled that MessageSafe was in the news six months ago due to a security breach. Immediately, John did a quick research of MessageSafe's previous breach and learned that the breach was caused by an unintentional mistake by an IT administrator. He scheduled a meeting with Derrick to address his concerns.
At the meeting, Derrick emphasized that email is the primary method for the firm's lawyers to communicate with clients, thus it is critical to have the email continuity service to avoid any possible email downtime.
Derrick has been using the anti-spam service provided by MessageSafe for five years and is very happy with the quality of service provided by MessageSafe. In addition to the significant discount offered by MessageSafe, Derrick emphasized that he can also speed up the onboarding process since the firm already has a service contract in place with MessageSafe. The existing on-premises email continuity solution is about to reach its end of life very soon and he doesn't have the time or resource to look for another solution.
Furthermore, the off-premises email continuity service will only be turned on when the email service at A&M LLP's primary and secondary data centers are both down, and the email messages stored at MessageSafe site for continuity service will be automatically deleted after 30 days.
Which of the following is the most effective control to enforce MessageSafe's implementation of appropriate technical countermeasures to protect the personal data received from A&M LLP?
