4 Tips To Ensure Compliance When Moving Files Across Organizations

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Security is one of the top fundamental factors to consider when sharing files across organizations. If it falls into the wrong hands, it’ll not only affect your reputation but can also lead to convictions. For this reason, it’s best to practice a good sense of caution when moving data from one organization to another.

As such, the following article discusses what you need to know about common data compliance standards and some tips to ensure compliance when moving files.

What Is Compliance In File Transfer?

Compliance brings to mind several concepts such as protecting data confidentiality and ensuring proper control, among others. It refers to standards and regulations that you should follow to protect sensitive data from illegal access, misuse, theft, and loss.

Organizations need to follow formal standards and regulations to improve file transfer, storage, and management efficiency. This will ensure the protection of sensitive data about your clients and the business itself. You may click here to learn more about file transfer and its related issues.

Common Data Compliance Standards

While there are many compliance standards, the following are the most common ones:

  • General data protection regulation (GDPR) refers to a legal framework that manages how organizations collect, transfer, and process data from individuals and organizations in the European Union (EU). Not adhering to this may affect your business with other organizations, leading to a lower profit margin.
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the compliance standard requiring health organizations to protect sensitive information about their clients. It requires them to ask for permission and consent before transferring any sensitive information.
  • Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) protects and manages how organizations collect, process, and transfer personal information about their clients.

Tips To Ensure Compliance When Moving Files

Although you may implement basic data security policies in your company to avoid legal consequences, it’s essential to understand that compliance isn’t just about addressing the bare minimum. Here are some tips you may consider to ensure the creation of a culture of compliance when moving files:

  1. Understand Compliance Needs

Understanding your needs will play a massive role in ensuring compliance when moving files from one organization to another. These needs will depend on the type of business and organization you’re working with. For instance, medical institutions should guarantee compliance with HIPPA rules before transferring any data. This will protect patients’ sensitive information, thus improving their reputation.

Ensure that you conduct enough checks to identify your compliance needs and standards. If an organization doesn’t have similar requirements, you might be risking data protection.

  1. Be Informed

This is another tip that will guarantee you stay on top of compliance requirements. It’s important to understand that demonstrating compliance is a continuous process. It involves watching out for rule changes and how they may affect your file transferring process.

Conduct extensive research to identify and monitor changing policy. This will ensure that you have enough time to prepare, reducing the risks of getting overwhelmed by the upcoming policy change.

  1. Provide Start-To-Finish Security

Data security within companies will go a long way in ensuring compliance when transferring files. Security will protect the file from illegal access, changes, and related issues. It’s important to understand that any unlawful access or changes can affect the workflow of your organization.

There are also several ways you can protect your files while in transit, including the use of passwords, two-factor authentication, and many more. You can also have an auditable chain of custody, which will help you to document who is handling your file at any given time. It’s essential to have this in the record to improve the safety of your data and save it from breaches that may have legal repercussions.

  1. Use The Right Software

The rules surrounding data compliance might be complex, and trying to understand and apply every aspect of these regulations on your own can lead to errors. For instance, if you have to remember email retention policies every time you transfer critical data, you’re most likely bound to make a mistake. For this reason, it’s best to use available software to automate the process.

Utilizing software will help eliminate human errors such as file recovery, making it easier to achieve compliance. Before choosing any software, make an effort to learn about their certifications and how they can meet your expectations.

Bottom Line

The cyber-security issues and financial impact of breaching company policies can be devastating. This is why compliance rules are set to avoid any leakage in sensitive, confidential information across domains. As such, all organizations should take various measures to ensure compliance in their transfers. Everyone, including employees and contractors, must be aware of these measures when moving data across organizational silos and ecosystems.