Safeguard Personal Data in Your Care, a Security Checklist

Building a solid relationship with customers starts on a foundation of trust. From faith in your product to faith that you’ll deliver on time, the consumer has to have confidence that you’ll keep up your part of the bargain. With identity theft and e-commerce attacks on the rise, one of the biggest leaps of faith that a consumer takes is just handing over his or her personal information to you. The Direct Marketing Association offers the following tips to keep your customers’ information secure:

1. Have a security policy. Establish information security policies and practices to ensure the uninterrupted security of your information systems.

2. Train and supervise for security. Institute vigorous training and oversight of your designated security team. Any employee or contract worker with even occasional access to customers’ personally identifiable information must be properly trained and supervised.

3. Use available technology to guard personal data. Build structural and technological walls to contain personal information, and run tests to ensure the system works. Make contingency plans.

4. Inform data suppliers and business partners of their responsibilities to meet your security specifications. The information chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Make sure personal data in your care are “tagged” and”fenced” when they enter your database, while they’re in storage and once they leave. Permit no information transfers without ensuring business partners meet your security standards.