Compliance & Privacy

What exactly does compliance mean?

Compliance refers to all measures taken by a company to ensure that legal regulations such as the GDPR are adhered to. Not only does this protect private individuals, but the company itself also benefits from the obligation of complying with the law: compliance protects the company from negative headlines and the sanction payments associated with breaking the law. An elaborate security system also reduces the number of hacker attacks and protects the company from corruption. If an employee changes jobs, appropriate compliance measures can ensure that no data is passed on to his or her new employer.

Bye-bye cookies – greater data protection through compliance

For digital decision-makers, personal data is a valuable asset, as it gives companies insight into the buying behavior of their customers and thus helps them optimize their advertising strategies. However, despite the advantages of personalized advertising, many people take a critical view of the issue of tracking. As a result, third-party cookies are on the verge of extinction. In light of the GDPR and the ePrivacy Regulation, digital data protection is becoming the new compliance standard.

Greater IT security through compliance

Adherence to data protection guidelines further optimizes the IT security of a company. Compliance therefore also has a positive impact from a business perspective. A simple example would be rules on accessing company databases from an employee’s private computer. By implementing compliance measures, the stored data can be protected.

Compliance as a marketing strategy

Not only does compliance help protect companies and increase online privacy, but a compliance management system can also be used to acquire and retain customers. Many brands have an internal code of conduct that goes beyond the legally required level of data protection. This strengthens the integrity and positive image of the company. Typical guidelines primarily include the following:

• Transparency: Information is provided on what data is collected and for what purpose.
• Sustainability: Conserving resources, minimizing environmental impact, and improving environmental protection are formulated as a company’s goals.
• Child labor: Exploitation of children is emphatically rejected.

Important note: Internally-defined guidelines pay off for the company because they make the brand credible and create a positive impression among customers.

Successful compliance requires intensive communication

New marketing strategies and greater data security in your own business: a compliance management system offers substantial benefits to companies. At the same time, there is growing uncertainty among many managers. How can the specified compliance measures be enforced in your own team? The answer is communication. The establishment of a compliance management system has to be well thought through. To avoid confusion and a lack of understanding, intensive communication with all stakeholders and employees is key.

Implementing compliance measures using digital analytics

Especially for a company’s IT department, compliance measures present new challenges. After all, the IT team is responsible for ensuring adherence to the measures. For employees, this entails a certain degree of extra effort. Collecting, measuring, and analyzing all the data take time. What’s more, new rules and guidelines are continually being established. For many brands, digital analytics solutions provide the answer to this problem. They can detect compliance violations, such as the inappropriate use of personal data, in a targeted manner. Instead of employees visually searching the databases, compliance analyses can be performed much more quickly and cleanly using algorithms. Digital analytics solutions also reduce the risk of human errors.

Compliance is unavoidable

Against the backdrop of the GDPR and the ePrivacy Regulation, compliance is not just an obligation that brands have to meet, but complying with the law also comes with numerous advantages: greater IT security, less negative publicity, and a higher degree of trust on the part of customers due to transparent data handling. Compliance can help protect the privacy of customers, while at the same time strengthening a company’s integrity and keeping it future proof in a time of growing skepticism about tracking.