How much data does your Non-Profit collect? How secure is that information? What steps should you take to make sure your organization is protecting its sensitive data?
Non-Profits face unique challenges when it comes to data protection. For example, they often need more resources or expertise to build their security infrastructure. In addition, they tend to operate under strict privacy laws that require them to safeguard personal information. Therefore, you must invest in a robust data protection strategy to stay competitive.
Data protection is one of those things that many Non-Profits do not think about until their organization has been hacked or suffered some security breach. While there are no guarantees that your Non-Profit will never experience a cyber attack, the best way to protect yourself against such attacks is to build a solid data protection plan for your overall cybersecurity strategy.
What Is a Data Protection Strategy?
Data protection strategies are essential to any organization. They help protect against potential risks such as loss of sensitive information, unauthorized use of information, security breaches, and legal liability. A well-thought-out data protection strategy helps ensure that you meet the requirements of industry standards, regulations, and laws while protecting your data’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Data protection strategies are important because they ensure organizations comply with federal regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). They also allow Non-Profits to better manage their information assets and protect them from unauthorized access or disclosure.
A data protection strategy is a comprehensive approach to protecting sensitive personal information. It creates a culture where employees are aware of the importance of privacy and security and take steps to prevent breaches. This means educating staff members about the risks associated with sharing personal information and implementing policies and procedures to mitigate those risks.
Onsite Data Protection for Non-Profits
Non-Profit organizations collect vast amounts of data on their constituents. This includes donor contact information, financial information, health records, and even social media profiles. While it’s important to protect sensitive data, there are many different ways to do so.
Encryption
Encrypting data prevents anyone without access to the key from reading it. As a result, it makes it harder for hackers to steal confidential information. However, encryption doesn’t guarantee privacy, making it more difficult.
Anonymization
Anonymizing data removes identifying information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and IP addresses. This allows Non-Profits to use the data for research while protecting individuals’ identities. But anonymized data still contains enough information to identify someone.
Deidentification
Deidentifying data involves removing personally identifiable information like name, date of birth, address, Social Security number, credit card number, etc. This process makes it easier to use the data for statistical analysis. However, it only makes the data somewhat anonymous. For example, researchers could still match the remaining data with public records.
Donors expect privacy protection from the money they donate. As a Non-Profit organization, you must ensure donor privacy. If you don’t, you risk losing donors and their donations.
Cloud-based Data Protection for Non-Profits
Data protection should include both onsite and offsite storage options. Cloud-based solutions are becoming increasingly popular because they provide flexible access to information while still giving organizations control over how it is stored and secured. In addition to providing flexibility, cloud-based systems offer many benefits, such as cost savings, speed, scalability, ease of use, and increased efficiency.
A cloud-based data protection strategy allows organizations to store all their data in one place. This means that if there is ever a security breach, only one organization would be affected instead of multiple companies. Additionally, cloud-based solutions provide better security and privacy than traditional methods.
Cloud data protection is a way of storing data online. A company stores its data on a server that is located somewhere else. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Drive are three examples of cloud-based storage providers.
Why Do Non-Profits Need Cloud Data Protection?
Non-Profits may only realize they need a cloud-based data protection solution after a data breach occurs. When a Non-Profit experiences a data breach, it could cost them thousands of dollars to recover lost data and repair damaged systems. A Non-Profit can avoid these costs by implementing a cloud-based data security strategy.
Many Non-Profits need to realize that having a data protection strategy is essential. According to the Ponemon Institute, 92% of Non-Profit executives say protecting confidential data is very important. Yet, only 46% of Non-Profits have a formal data protection policy.
If your organization has a data protection strategy, it may be protected from data loss. For instance, if someone hacks into your email account, they could steal your donor list. Or, if your database gets corrupted, your organization won’t be able to process donations.
What are the Components of a Good Data Protection Strategy?
A good data protection strategy should address four key areas:
Security
Your organization may use any combination of physical, virtual, and cloud-based solutions to secure your data. These solutions include firewalls, encryption software, VPNs, authentication methods, and many others.
Availability
You need to ensure that your data is available whenever needed. For example, if your organization uses a public cloud provider such as Amazon Web Services, you need to know whether your data is stored in multiple locations across the globe.
Compliance
Your organization must comply with all applicable laws regarding data privacy and security. For example, HIPAA requires that healthcare providers maintain strict controls over patient medical records.
Disaster Recovery
You must plan ahead if your Non-Profit organization experiences a natural disaster or another event that could damage your data. A good data protection strategy includes backup plans for each data storage system component.
Why Is Having a Data Protection Strategy Important?
Data protection strategies aren’t just about protecting personal information but also about building trust among customers, partners, and employees. They help you maintain compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25, 2018. And they ensure that your organization retains access to customer data due to a breach.
The GDPR requires organizations to protect customer data. This includes making sure that it isn’t breached during transmission, stored improperly, or used without permission. In addition, it stipulates that organizations must notify affected individuals within 72 hours of discovering the incident. If there is no response, the organization must report the breach to the appropriate authorities. These requirements apply regardless of whether the organization is based in the EU or outside the region.
Companies must also develop a data protection policy. A good one helps employees understand how sensitive data is handled, what safeguards exist to prevent breaches, and how to handle incidents that do occur. Employees must also know they can keep confidential information private. Even though they won’t face repercussions for sharing it, they still need to follow internal procedures to safeguard it. Finally, data protection policies must include training programs for
Is Having a Data Protection Strategy Worth it?
Yes, having a data protection strategy is worth it. Implementing a cloud-based data strategy will save your organization time and money. However, it is essential to remember that having a data protection strategy does not guarantee that your data will never be compromised. Therefore, it is still necessary to take additional precautions to ensure that your data remains private and secure.
Having said that, a data protection strategy is definitely worth the investment. For instance, according to the Ponemon Institute survey, 65% of respondents said they experienced data loss. Among those who did experience data loss, 80% felt that it cost them $100,000 or more.
To conclude, a data protection strategy is necessary for any organization. Unfortunately, many Non-Profits lack one. However, if your Non-Profit deals with sensitive information and data, you must develop a data protection strategy for your Non-Profit organization.