How can data protection compliance be a benefit rather than a burden?

When organisations think of data protection compliance, they often believe that it’s a burden as opposed to a benefit. However, there are several benefits to having a robust data protection compliance program in place. In particular, when it comes to conducting a data inventory and a having a record of your processing activities, the following five benefits come into play:

1. You will have a solid framework for how your business operates and this will give you greater control. This is because you will need to record all of your relationships and data (e.g., from prospective and existing customers, staff and third parties).
2. You will be able to think more strategically about how you wish to expand your business and which opportunities to exploit. This is because you will need to record all of the data transfers made by your business and this will help you to see potential areas of expansion (e.g., certain jurisdictions where you are transferring a lot of data).
3. You will be able to identify any lack of efficiency in your relationships and potentially save costs. This is because you will need to document all of your third-party relationships and will therefore be able to quickly identify if any third parties are providing the same or a similar service to another.
4. You will be able to calculate how much data is in your business and again potentially save costs. This is because you will need to document information on the data in your ecosystem and will therefore be able to identify where you can or should remove data and reduce your data storage costs.
5. You will be able to protect a valuable business asset: your data. This is because you will need to record all of the systems that you use and note the appropriate security measures that need to be put in place.