With D-Day fast approaching, full GDPR readiness should almost be complete. But while procedures may have been addressed, does your staff really understand their role in the transition? Employee awareness is not only a key part of compliance, it can strengthen your organization’s long-term position, making initiating a dedicated programme a critical aspect.
A key condition of the GDPR is that employees are fully informed of their rights and responsibilities, the systems that have been introduced and the importance of compliance to the new protective regulations.
What is more, employees must be properly trained so as to minimize the chances of data breaches from within an organization. The popular belief is that hackers are the principal culprit for data theft and system breaches but, in fact, a high percentage of incidents are due to internal errors, like accidentally emailing files to unauthorized personnel.
In fact, figures revealed in the latest Breach Level Index show that accidental data loss, which comprises unintended losses like improper disposal and database misconfiguration, were behind the vast majority of breaches in 2017. Of the 2.6 billion records stolen or compromised over the 12-month period, accidental loss accounted for some 1.9 billion. It represented a 580% increase on the number lost in 2016.
According to Article 39 of the GDPR, Data Protection Officers (DPOs) must not only monitor regulatory compliance and manage all of the internal data protection activities, they are also obliged to “inform and advise the controller or the processor and the employees who carry out processing of their obligations”.
However, the chief reason behind building employee awareness is that new initiatives are more likely to be integrated smoothly and without disruption when personnel know each stage of the process.
Purpose Of The Employee Awareness Programme
The reason for offering an awareness programme is 4-fold:
3 Elements A Successful Employee Awareness Programme Includes:
At Kefron, we already offer a dedicated Employee Awareness Training programme, in partnership with Olive Media, to those who wish to arm their employees with the information needed to help achieve compliance. For more details, visit our webpage and contact us.