GDPR Security Camera Audit – wish there was a better way?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most fundamental change to data laws so far, protecting the rights of citizens to control how, where and why their data is captured and used. As such, it has had far-reaching effects on the modern enterprise, and every business – pretty much worldwide – has had to evaluate their data, assess how it is stored, how it is secured, what it is used for. Even though the legislation relates exclusively to citizens of the European Union (EU), a vast number of companies worldwide need to think deeply about the data they capture, and work out if it will have an impact on EU citizens in any way. This has a very direct impact on each organisation’s security cameras, which of course are one of the most visible and obvious points for collecting data. Basically, if your cameras are collecting customer or staff data, then they must comply to EU regulations. GDPR compliance is a long-term project involving the redeployment of internal processes and information systems. The GDPR introduces new obligations to these organisations, especially the keeping of records for all surveillance-related activities. In protecting the rights of the individual to make sure they are happy with how their personal data footprint is captured and used, organisations everywhere have to be much more aware about their devices, what they record, how that information is stored, and why. In short – it means one hell of a big audit, and the need to capture a reliable snapshot of each and every camera in the network. Sounds painful, right? Painful but very necessary. Nobody wants to risk litigation for non-compliance. Time to bite the bullet and deploy precious time and resources towards documenting every camera in every room of every building in the company. Shame there isn’t an easier way, right? Well, here’s the caveat. This requirement plays very neatly into what we do for security administrators. The Boring Toolbox takes a whole lot of time, effort and pain out of conducting an audit of each camera. The Toolbox can take a snapshot of every camera, providing a simple, secure and reliable footprint of the security system’s digital assets. The Boring Toolbox report actually has camera snapshots built in as part of the software’s basic functionality, so running a report provides a very simple way of seeing each camera, taking notes on its settings and history, and applying any changes that need to be made in order to achieve GDPR compliance. Sound too good to be true? Try it out free here.
