Proactive Privacy Practices Can Mitigate Damage from Data Breach

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As the cost and frequency of data breaches continue to rise, the question companies are facing is not if, but when a data breach will occur and how to prepare. According to a recent IBM and Ponemon report, the cost of a data breach in 2015 is $3.8 million, representing a 23% increase from 2013 while the number of data breaches reached an all-time high of 783 in 2014. Today, TRUSTe has expanded its privacy solutions offerings with new automated privacy assessments to help companies reduce planning and response time when addressing a data breach.

If a company waits until a breach occurs to start planning, their response is typically unorganized and inefficient, causing even more damage to the brand. Today, companies are looking for new and timely ways to minimize damages associated with a data breach. TRUSTe has now made that process easier by introducing new data breach assessment templates for use with Assessment Manager – a SaaS-based solution for conducting privacy assessments and PIAs. By leveraging this solution, organizations can quickly and efficiently gain the information they need to understand processes and procedures to manage a data breach.

The Incident Response Plan Preparedness Assessment helps companies assess their level of preparation for responding to a data breach, allowing organizations to:

• Create a plan to address and resolve privacy-related complaints
• Identify the internal crisis-management team with privacy and security stakeholders
• Develop crisis management guidelines for public relations and communications teams
• Create FAQ document for call centers to quickly respond to questions about the breach

The Data Breach Notification Requirements Assessment helps companies identify the appropriate parties and timelines for notification in the event of a breach based on legal requirements:

• Develop procedures and processes for notifying law enforcement and other necessary regulatory agencies in 51 states and U.S. Territories
• Identify procedures for notifying stakeholders
• Prepare procedures and pre-drafted notification statements for consumers and individuals
• Increase efficiency of working with the legal team once a breach occurs
• After completing both data breach-related assessments, companies should feel better prepared to address the customers and stakeholders affected by a possible breach while saving time, effort and money.

Assessment Manager also provides custom templates for the key operational functions for a data privacy program and to address the top global data privacy risks. Additional new templates released today include HR Data, Vendor Data, U.S. Marketing Communications, Data Classification and Retention Practices and California Privacy Notice. These are in addition to existing templates for the EU Cookie Directive, US-EU Safe Harbor, Privacy Impact Assessments and more.  As with all templates within Assessment Manager, companies can centralize all remediation and program management to enable more efficient execution and scaling of their global data privacy management programs.

For more information on Assessment Manager, visit https://www.truste.com/business-products/assessment-manager/.

About TRUSTe

TRUSTe is the leading global Data Privacy Management company and powers privacy compliance and trust by enabling businesses to safely collect and use customer data across their customer, employee and vendor channels. Our SaaS-based Data Privacy Management Platform gives users control over all phases of data privacy management from conducting assessments and implementing compliance controls to managing ongoing monitoring. Our data privacy services, including assessments and certifications, are delivered by an expert team of more than 150 privacy professionals. Thousands of companies worldwide rely on TRUSTe to minimize compliance risk and protect their brand.

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SOURCE TRUSTe

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