Developing a Mature Privacy Program

Most organizational leaders understand privacy as a priority. They know that their organization needs a legally compliant privacy policy and a qualified privacy officer, and that new technological tools should be evaluated from the perspective of privacy. Once these basics are in place, however, they often have a harder time evaluating how their organization is doing with privacy. Figuring out privacy is not a one-time thing, nor a process to be repeated in response to regulatory or technological changes. A strong privacy program is primarily focused on how policies and procedures are being implemented across the organization.​

So how can you evaluate how well your organization is implementing privacy? Perhaps a more helpful first question is, do you have the structures needed to support an effective privacy program?​

Privacy Starts with Governance

One of the most common mistakes that organizations make is to start developing privacy policy without first establishing a governance framework. Good governance is the foundation of a mature privacy program. The active support and involvement of the board and executive allows a company to integrate best practices into everyday operations and make sure that management and staff are all on board. While all board members and executives should be well-informed about privacy developments, a Privacy Governance Committee that includes representatives from both can take on much of the oversight and ongoing monitoring of your Privacy Program.​