GDPR Compliance Audit – 8 Points to Cover (Scope and Detail Explanation)

Introduction

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and DPA (Data Protection Act) 2018 have been introduced in order to ensure that data protection and consumer protection, at large, are taken care of by the given organizations.

The importance of complying with these policies is gauged by the fact that there are several penalties in a place where organizations cannot comply with these tasks and objectives.

Therefore, GDPR is set to force companies to get a better idea regarding data privacy and protection.

However, given the fact that these policy implications are relatively complex to implement and execute within the organization, it can be seen that there is a need to conduct an audit in order to ensure that it is properly reflected in the policy implications of the company.

Hence, in this regard, it is required that GDPR Compliance Auditor is required to have a proper roadmap that can achieve the required targets and objectives of the audit process itself.

8 Points GDPR’s Compliance Auditor Need to Cover

When conducting a GDPR Audit, the compliance auditor is supposed to cover eight major (ten overall) areas. They are mentioned below:

1) Governance

The Governance Principle mainly talks about personal data being utilized in accordance with six primary principles.

They constitute the overall ability of lawfulness, fairness, as well as transparency. Furthermore, they also talk about purpose limitation, accuracy, as well as storage limitation.

The main criterion in this regard is to ensure that they are exposed to the principle of accountability. In this regard, the auditor is supposed to ensure that there is evidence to support a culture that reflects the intent on the part of the governance to implement and impose the given criteria.

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2) Risk Management

As far as Risk Management is concerned, it can be seen that Risk Management tends to be another important criterion that needs to be undertaken by the auditor.

It is imperative to have a proper idea regarding the underlying risks and what needs to be done in order to mitigate the given risk threats.

The audit should also include the privacy risk pertaining to the corporate risk and the extent to which this matter is dealt with by the policymakers.

3) GDPR Project

The auditor should ensure that the organization has appropriately staffed, funded, and aware of the project and what it really entails.

Therefore, it is rudimentary to ensure that the auditors have clarity regarding the steps taken by the organization to cover the respective.

4) DPO (Data Protection Officer)

The auditor should also gauge the existing efficacy of the DPO Office within the company and if the person is able to manage the existing criteria relating to GDPR Policy implications within the organization.

5) Roles and Responsibilities

Furthermore, the auditor is also supposed to ensure that all the moving parts within the organization have a clear-cut idea regarding the roles and responsibilities and how they have been delegated and deployed within the organization.

It shows how well the organization has grasped the GDPR Policy features and how people have clarity regarding the roles they have.  

6) Scope of Compliance

The scope of compliance should be easily defined so that people can realize the due importance of the compliance audit, how well there is clarity regarding the GDPR Compliance, and what needs to be done to fulfill the objectives.

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For example, all the relevant databases should be identified, in addition to cross-border processing, as well as other relevant features.

7) Process Analysis

The Process Analysis is conducted to examine the data processing principles and existing processes identified as required data protection acts within the company.

This is a step within the security compliance part, and it should be observed as such by the relevant auditor.

8) PIMS (Personal Information Management System)

There is a wide range of documentation that goes in the company regarding Data Policy acts. The auditor is required to ensure that this documentation is extensively studied for any inconsistencies and irregularities.

It is important to ensure that this is something that is aligned with GDPR, in addition to the required protocols for employee training.

Conclusion

Therefore, there is no doubt to the fact that GDPR Compliance Audit tends to be a very important audit from the perspective of highly data-centric companies in terms of achieving the respective KPIs and joint ventures.

In this regard, it is also important to ensure that the compliance auditor and the organization are able to collaborate to culture an environment that is not conducive to data breaches that might eventually prove detrimental for the organization.

Sinra