Every company should carry out a data privacy audit

16 April 2021

A data protection audit refers to an internal inspection of an organisation’s data processing documentation and practices. It concerns the organisation as a whole and not only the legal or IT departments as it is often wrongly thought. Data protection audits are an integral part of demonstrating the organisations’ compliance with the accountability principle stated in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. 

All organisations despite their size or industry should carry out regular data protection audits to ensure their compliance with the legislation and to identify possible risks and deficiencies related to processing of personal data. Data protection audits can be carried out entirely as an internal process by the company itself or organisations can use external experts to perform the audit. In order to achieve reliable and independent evaluation of the current state of data protection within the organisation, it is advisable to use an external service provider. 

Performing a data protection audit benefits organisations in many ways. Not only will the company understand where it currently stands in relation to data protection, it will also increase trust among clients and other stakeholders and even prevent data protection incidents from happening.