Compliance Services
Designing and maintaining a security and privacy compliance program can feel daunting and intimidating. That’s why GeekSupport has included data security and privacy compliance as part of our IT support services.
Implement and maintain policies and regulations that are specific to your business needs
Geekprocare data security and privacy compliance services focus on the needs of small and mid-size companies. Geekprocare will help you understand the laws and regulations governing your business and work with you to obtain certifications and implement a program that meet the needs of your organization.
Geekprocare data security and privacy compliance services include:
- Guidance to implement and maintain a data security and privacy compliance program to ensure your company is following policies and regulations applicable to your business and industry, such as:
- HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
- GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
- PCI DSS – Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
- ISO 27001 Security Standard
- SOC 2 – Service Organization Control 2
- COPPA – Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
- CCPA – California Consumer Privacy Act
- CPRA – California Privacy Rights Act (effective date 01/01/23)
- Supply of checklists and documentation required by regulatory agencies and laws to apply for certification and/or show that your organization is following all voluntary and mandatory security and compliance requirements
- Review of your website sign-up, login, and privacy policy to ensure these processes and documents are compliant with all regulatory requirements and laws
- Regular data compliance scans to detect computer and systems vulnerabilities
- Training programs on laws and regulations relevant to your business, steps to apply for certifications, steps to implement a security, privacy, and compliance program, updates or changes of existing laws and regulations, and training for new employees on your company’s security and compliance program
When you sign up for our subscription level 3, you have access to these in addition to complete IT support to your business and employees.
FAQs
Why is important to have a security and privacy compliance program to ensure compliance with voluntary and mandatory regulations and laws?
There are many reasons why companies should implement and maintain a robust security and privacy compliance program and policies, including:
- Ensure your organization meet legal and regulatory requirements for collecting, processing, or maintaining personal identifiable information
- Avoid potential lawsuits and financial liability
- Make security and privacy compliance part of your business processes by informing your organization’s structures, procedures, relationship with stakeholders, and technology choices
- Provide transparency about your business practices
- Enhance your brand’s reputation as well as increase customer confidence and competitive advantage
Maintaining a security and privacy compliance program helps you protect your company’s resources and reputation by laying the foundation on which you build trust with customers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders.
What happens if you ignore them?
Security and privacy laws and regulations help protect your business, employees, and customers. Companies that don’t have a security and privacy compliance program, or worse, those that ignore laws and regulations governing their businesses, and fail to comply, open themselves up to risks beyond fines including:
- Data breaches and fraud
- Regulatory investigations
- Potential lawsuits and financial liability
- Loss of licenses or ability to do business with certain stakeholders
- Reputational damage
- Business disruption associated with costs and time spent handling a compliance violation
How to determine which laws and regulations are applicable to my business?
Determining which laws and regulations are applicable to your business can be a daunting process that requires through research of various laws and regulations. That’s why it’s recommended that companies work with a compliance partner who can guide you and facilitate this process for your organization. There are three business areas organizations should focus on at the beginning of this process:
- Location: your business location as well as locations your business serve will give you a good understanding of which state and federal laws apply to your company.
- Industry: different industries may have different security and privacy laws, such as healthcare, retail, and financial services. The only way to determine which industry specific laws apply to your business is by conducting a through search of business-specific laws and regulations. Industry specific regulations include HIPAA and SOC 2 among others.
- Size: company size and revenue will also determine which laws and regulations are applicable to your business.
What is the process to implement a security and privacy compliance program?
Because every company is different, the process to implement a security and privacy compliance program will vary to address its specific compliance requirements. However, most organizations benefit from a process with the following the steps:
- Determine laws and regulations applicable to your business
- Conduct a risk assessment to examine what information and data is collected, how they are used and stored, who has access to them, and how security and privacy is currently handled
- Establish which risks your company faces, including compliance risks
- Design your data security and privacy compliance program plan to mitigate those risks and address laws and regulatory requirements
- Appoint a leader to oversee implementation and communication
- Implement your plan, which includes policies, procedures, and tools that will support your compliance program, as well as changes to existing business processes and systems to align them with compliance requirements
- Train and educate your employees to ensure understanding of the program and their role in successfully implementing and managing the program
- Implement controls and perform audits to monitor your program and pinpoint areas of risks and non-compliance
- Take corrective action to address problems and improve your compliance program
Maintaining a successful security and privacy compliance program is an ongoing process of implementation and evaluation. Policies and procedures evolve as regulatory requirements and laws change and, as a result, your processes and systems must be re-evaluated to ensure they continue to meet compliance. For this reason, the steps above should be considered as a process cycle, not a one-time process for the initial implementation.
What is the process to obtain certifications?
How to ensure my business stay compliant and audit ready?
- Document your policies and procedures and update your data security and privacy compliance program regularly
- Apply your policies and procedures consistently throughout your organization, making sure all employees and other stakeholders follow them
- Remove barriers to compliance by making your policies and procedures easily available and accessible to your employees and other stakeholders
- Reinforce your procedures and policies with regular training
- Stay current with changes in laws and regulations
- Schedule compliance audits regularly
- Use tools and systems to help simplify and manage your compliance program
Our final tip, choose GeekSupport as your partner in compliance. GeekSupport provides data security and privacy compliance services as part of our GeekPremium+ subscription level. For $95/month per employee, you will receive guidance and support to implement an effective compliance program in addition to our full suite of IT support services.