As the digital world evolves at warp speed, consumers seek a higher level of transparency to discern the safety of the data they share with these online businesses and merchants. With consumers producing enormous amounts of data daily in today’s globally connected environment, worries are peaking about how companies collect, use, and safeguard personal data. Governments worldwide are enacting comprehensive legislation to guarantee the privacy and security of personal data in response to popular pressure. These include, but are not limited to, the California Consumer Privacy Act, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) of Brazil (CCPA).
As an extension to the ISO 27001 regulatory guidelines, the ISO 27701 certification came into effect in August 2019 to assist firms in managing personal data per consumer expectations and in compliance with rapidly tightening regulatory regulations. Implementing an ISO 27701 Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) allows your organization to process personal data with the utmost accountability and openness.
New frameworks come with a whole set of further queries, which is why we at Akitra curated this blog to answer all your questions about the ISO 27701 regulatory standard. Here, we will discuss what ISO 27701 entails, who should implement it, how it differs from its parent compliance standard, ISO 27001, and what benefits it can provide in terms of safeguarding confidential information that your organization is privy to and operates with.
Let’s get started.
What is the ISO 27701 security guideline?
The ISO/IEC 27701:2019 is an extension of the pre-existing ISO 27001 regulatory framework that further supports data privacy. It is a recently released information security standard that offers direction for businesses wishing to set up infrastructure to enable compliance with GDPR and other data privacy regulations. The ISO 27701 security guideline elaborates on data privacy management in minute detail. Often also known as PIMS (Privacy Information Management System), it provides a framework for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Controllers and PII Processors. Systems for managing personal information can also be used to address privacy information.
Strengthening an existing Information Security Management System lowers danger to individuals and the organization’s privacy rights.
This standard is a wonderful method to show customers and external and internal stakeholders that GDPR and other associated privacy laws are being complied with. Organizations wishing to obtain ISO 27701 certification to be GDPR compliant must either already hold an ISO 27001 certification or apply for both ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 as part of a single implementation assessment. The guidelines and criteria outlined in ISO 27001 naturally expand for the benefit of the ISO 27701 regulatory framework.
Who Should Implement ISO 27701?
The ISO 27701 security guideline certification was designed with data controllers and processors in mind. It is highly pertinent to this industry and is most useful when used by experts in these fields.
Organizations will be able to assess, respond to, and eliminate risks associated with collecting, managing, and processing personal information by putting a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) that complies with ISO 27701 criteria in place. Although certification to ISO 27701 does not prove that a company is legally compliant with GDPR, it can offer a useful foundation to further your cause in that endeavor.
Differences between ISO 27001 and ISO 27701
Similar to how ISO 27001 is regarded as the “gold standard” for information security management, ISO 27701 is expected to become the de facto benchmark for GDPR compliance. To guarantee that industry-specific standards align with pertinent operational demands, ISO 27701 primarily focuses on resolving GDPR regulations.
Although it is in line with GDPR, it also gives enterprises the option to adopt the standard to incorporate other privacy laws, rules, and criteria. This makes it a fantastic option for businesses of all sizes and in all industries wishing to show that they are in compliance with the GDPR’s “accountability” principle. It displays accountability and knowledge of the specifications, increases operational cost-effectiveness, and adds value to the sector.
What Benefits does ISO 27701 Provide for Businesses?
You can demonstrate compliance with a wide range of UK and international privacy legislation using the framework provided by ISO 27701.
Other reasons why you should consider getting ISO 27701 certified are as follows:
1. Demonstrate next-level data protection:
One approach to demonstrate that you are adhering to all pertinent data protection, confidentiality, and privacy security regulations is by using the ISO 27701 standard.
2. Cultivate trust, when handling sensitive information:
You need a technique to make sure your organization is taking all reasonable steps to guarantee that personal information is handled legally and correctly when it comes to handling personal information. You can create trust when managing data with the help of ISO 27701. When you adhere to a global standard like ISO 27701, your partners, suppliers, and customers can trust your policies, procedures, and protocols.
3. Comply with the top information security guidelines:
ISO 27701 is Integrated with the highest information security standards. This enables the easy development and maintenance of policies and processes across several measures and the confidence that implementing ISO 27701 standards won’t jeopardize your compliance with other standards.
4. Encourage adherence to other privacy laws:
The “industry standard” for adhering to new data protection laws is ISO 27701. Despite the fact that ISO 27701 complies with the GDPR’s guiding principles, it also enables organizations to prove that they have complied with other privacy standards, rules, and regulations.
5. Render compliance flexible enough to take jurisdictional differences into account:
To comply with various privacy laws, the ISO 27701 standard was created to establish guidelines for handling personally identifiable information. You can incorporate these jurisdictional specifics into ISO 27701 if your business operates outside the EU and you want to adhere to regulations that are equal to GDPR in your particular region.
6. Provide transparency amongst key stakeholders:
ISO 27701 establishes the standard for managing privacy data. The standard fosters respect and confidence by making processes transparent to all parties involved.
7. Enable successful business deals:
It is simpler to come to agreements and cooperate when businesses are dedicated to working to the same high privacy data standards. When considering system integration and shared business processes, ISO 27701 fosters trust and ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page.
In short, the ISO 27701 regulatory framework helps with:
- Adherence to the GDPR compliance guideline
- Individuals’ right to privacy
- Continuing discretion
- IT leadership
- Prevention of any acts violating personal data
- Increasing customer satisfaction and trust
- Preserving the credibility of the business]
ISO 27701 Compliance with Akitra!
Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that the organizations with whom they do business are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk. Compliance certification fills that need.
Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our service helps customers become certified for ISO 27701, along with other frameworks like SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management for your company, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts will provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings — including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and can become certified under additional frameworks using a single compliance automation platform.
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