Data breaches and cyber-attacks are increasingly becoming common in today’s digital era. It has become necessary for companies to take measures to protect their customers and employ data. Yet, most companies tend to apply privacy protection for their customers and forget about their employees or the workplace.
Continued technological advances have led to the workplace being more efficient than before. There are different software that facilitates everyday tasks, connect co-workers across cities, and automate tedious processes. Employees not only use the internet for research and sending emails; they also use it to share documents, process payroll and hold video meetings. Consequently, there is a more significant issue of privacy protection.
Privacy in companies is a complex matter. Before hiring an employee for vetting, employers must gather important personally identifiable information (PII). Hirers conduct background checks on potential employees, get their PII to run payroll, provide them with healthcare benefits, and protect them in emergencies.
Employers, therefore, have access to sensitive information, including home address, email address, social security number, email address, health and medical records, emergency contact information, and bank account number. So, how does a company safeguard this information? This piece details some ways you can improvise your company’s privacy.
- Use Secure Authentication
Implementing secure authentication is vital for ensuring the privacy of a company’s data. Secure authentication involves identifying the identity of users before granting them access to sensitive information. Only authorized users should access confidential information to prevent unauthorized access.
Authentication can be achieved through passwords, two-factor authentication, or biometric authentication. Companies reduce the risk of unauthorized access to their data by requiring users to provide multiple forms of authentication. In most cases, a username or password may not cut it. It is best to have multi-factor authentication on top of having passwords. It is also best for your company to have policies needing compliance officers or top management approval to access certain types of information, especially sensitive information.
- Assess the Data You Have
You need to access the data you have currently stored in your HR department. Ask yourself what kind of data you have and how that data is essential for the company and the employees. Ensure that the data is solid for the whole business and not for a few groups or departments.
Understanding the information you possess is the first step to protecting it effectively. The data can easily disorganize and disarray if your business has been operational for a long time, and the issue is normally amplified if you shift to digitalized formats.
It might not be sufficient to know where sensitive data is located; you must understand the information and organize it accordingly. Sort out the records from before and assess how to store them. You can utilize data organization tools and software that enables you to retrieve, store, and access records that are difficult to find.
- Encrypt Your Data
Cybercrimes can happen to any organization or any individual at any time. It is common to hear reputable organizations suffer from cybercrimes despite their enormous resources and technological advancements. Yet, you still need to put measures in place.
If the measures you have put in place fail, encryption can thwart attacks on sensitive data. A hacker or their malware virus might gain access, but with encryption, they will not be able to read the files on the network despite all their efforts.
It is common for organizations to encrypt highly sensitive information like IDs. However, it would be more effective to encrypt entire files of the company. Business and employee information needs to be updated continuously, and it is best to have the files encrypted. It has been proven that encryption can be effective when file-level encryption is utilized at the business process level.
- Train the HR Department
Technology is changing human resource management without a doubt. Therefore, it is vital for HR members to constantly keep up with changes. You need to inform HR members of the best practices to ensure records are kept safe since they are the people who continuously access sensitive employee data.
Managers must be professionally equipped to handle scenarios if an employee resigns from the organization. This will ensure that there are no data leaks. Conduct a regular update of the managers’ training to keep them up to date on the latest developments and best practices for handling employee information.
- Create a Company-Wide Private Policy
Creating a privacy policy for the whole company creates a culture of transparency at work. A business privacy policy should disclose to employees the level of privacy protection they should expect from the company. In addition to explaining how employee PII is protected, the policy should also go through potential monitoring and the personal use of company resources.
A privacy policy should explain that:
- Employers own all worker documents, communication, and devices.
- Employees are subject to monitoring.
- Workers should never expect privacy when doing company work or using company property.
- Filter Inappropriate Sites
Many workers use the internet for personal reasons during working hours. A FindLaw Survey conducted in 2015 found that 50% of Americans use the web for personal reasons while at work. They check social media, read the news, and shop.
You can be comfortable with moderate personal internet use, but too much leeway can negatively affect the company. For that reason, you should set internet filters that limit employees from visiting sites that would not be appropriate for the work environment. Restricting workers’ web access can help protect the company from data breaches. It also limits the amount of monitoring the company has to conduct.
Wrapping Up
Company practices of gathering employee and consumer data are rapidly evolving. As the practices change, procedures must be in place to protect sensitive data. The HR department is responsible for keeping employee data safe, so they must take the requisite measures to cover everything.
Remember, improving privacy for a company is an ongoing process. Yet, it is crucial to ensure the security and safety of sensitive information. By implementing the above steps, you can take the right steps to reduce the risk of privacy violations. Moreover, you should regularly review and update your privacy practices to ensure they remain relevant and effective in the constantly evolving digital landscape.