The implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), was effective date of May 25, 2018, is just around the corner, and with it will come pressure on the human resources (HR) department to update its approach to handling employee data. The GDPR significantly enhances employee rights in respect to control over their personal data.
In particular, the GDPR introduces the concept of a “right of erasure” i.e. a ‘right to be forgotten’. Although the concept currently exists under EU law, it is currently applicable under very limited circumstances, when data processing may result in damage or distress. Under the GDPR, pursuant to Article 17 and Recital 65, an employee will have a right to have his/her data erased and no longer processed, where consent of processing is withdrawn, where the employee objects to such processing, or where processing is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was gathered. That said, the employer, under certain circumstances, can refuse to comply with an employee’s request for erasure of personal data – where data processing is required by law or in connection with a legal proceeding.
Further, there is a time limit for responding to a request for erasure of data by an employee. An employer will be required to comply with a request by an employee ‘without undue delay’, and not later than one month of receipt of the request, together with the reasons for delay (Article 12).
To effectively meet the GDPR’s new requirements, employers will need to take stock of the employee data they process related to EU operations (see Does the GDPR Apply to Your U.S.-based Company?). What categories of EU employee data are processed? What categories of EU employee data are processed? Where does it comes from? In what context and where is it processed and maintained? Who has access to it? Are the uses and disclosures being made of that information permitted? What rights do EU employees have with respect to that information? The answers to these questions are not always self-evident. Employee data may cover current, former, or prospective EU employees as well as interns and volunteers. It may come from assorted places and be processed in less traditional contexts.
To better understand how an employee’s “right of erasure” will impact day-to-day HR operations, below are a few practical examples of instances where an employee will have the right, under the GDPR, to request that his/her data be erased and no longer processed.
Circumstances where an HR department may be compelled to erase employee data:
You collected the data during the employee’s hiring process, but, following the completion of that process, you can no longer demonstrate compelling grounds for continuing to process it. Such data could include, inter alia: (i) past employment verifications, (ii) education and credential verifications, (iii) credit reporting and other financial history data, (iv) government identification numbers.
You collected data about an employee in order to administer benefits to him or her, but the employee has since de-enrolled from the benefits program.
You collected employee online monitoring data for work productivity purposes – but you collected data which the employee does not expect is reasonable processing (personal emails, personal messenger conversations, etc.).
You collected employee data (g., profiling data) for use in evaluating whether to promote an employee to Position X, but end up promoting another employee to that position instead.
You processed data related to employee job performance issues (g., late arrivals, absences, disputes with a coworker, etc.) a number of years ago, and the employee has not had similar issues since.
You collected identifying data on an employee such as an employee’s past address, phone number, email address, username, financial account information, etc., but the employee has since provided updated information.
Employers must be ready to comply with the new EU data regime upon its effective date next month. If your organization has not yet started, it should begin implementing policies and procedures that inform employees of their enhanced rights to control over their personal data, ensure that operationally the organization can comply with such rights, and train HR personnel handling employee requests for erasure of data. This includes developing a plan of how to respond timely and effective to employees’ requests, and a review process for when there is a legal basis to deny a request.
I have created over the years I am working within IT Security a report which I am using in almost any company and this is for you free to use, I will show an example of this report and you have the ability to download this template for your benefit.
The cybersecurity industry is rapidly growing every day. As more specialists join the ranks, more malware is being launched than ever before, with approximately 230,000 new malware samples/day. Although more resources are being deployed to counter cyber-attacks, the nature of the industry still has a long way to go before we can, as a whole, catch up with these threats.
It’s important for us to define what the current information security and cybersecurity industry looks like with these alarming 13 Cyber Security Facts and Stats.
3. 95% of breached records came from only three industries in 2019
Government, retail, and technology. The reason isn’t necessarily because those industries are less diligent in their protection of customer records. They’re just very popular targets because of the high level of personal identifying information contained in their records.
2. There is a hacker attack every 39 seconds
A Clark School study at the University of Maryland is one of the first to quantify the near-constant rate of hacker attacks of computers with Internet access— every 39 seconds on average, affecting one in three Americans every year —and the non-secure usernames and passwords we use that give attackers more chance of success.
3. 43% of cyber-attacks target small business
64% of companies have experienced web-based attacks. 62% experienced phishing & social engineering attacks. 59% of companies experienced malicious code and botnets and 51% experienced denial of service attacks.
4. The average cost of a data breach in 2020 will exceed $150 million
As more business infrastructure gets connected, Juniper Research data suggests that cybercrime will cost businesses over $2 trillion total in 2019.
5. Since 2013 there are 3,809,448 records stolen from breaches every day
158,727 per hour, 2,645 per minute and 44 every second of every day reports Cybersecurity Ventures.
6. Over 75% of healthcare industry has been infected with malware over last year
The study examined 700 healthcare organizations including medical treatment facilities, health insurance agencies and healthcare manufacturing companies.
7. Large-scale DDoS attacks increase in size by 500%
According to the Q2 2018 Threat Report, Nexusguard’s quarterly report, the average distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack grew to more than 26Gbps, increasing in size by 500%.
8. Approximately $6 trillion is expected to be spent globally on cybersecurity by 2021
Organizations need to make a fundamental change in their approach to cybersecurity and reprioritize budgets to align with this newly defined reality of our modern society.
9. Unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide will reach $3.5 million by 2021
More than 300,000 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. are unfilled, and postings are up 74% over the past five years.
10. By 2020 there will be roughly 200 billion connected devices
The risk is real with IoT and its growing. According to figures compiled within a recent Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, there are 25 connected devices per 100 inhabitants in the US.
11. 95% of cybersecurity breaches are due to human error
Cyber-criminals and hackers will infiltrate your company through your weakest link, which is almost never in the IT department.
12. Only 38% of global organizations claim they are prepared to handle a sophisticated cyber attack
What’s worse? An estimated 54 percent of companies say they have experienced one or more attacks in the last 12 months.
13. Total cost for cybercrime committed globally has added up to over $1 trillion dollars in 2018
Don’t think that all that money comes from hackers targeting corporations, banks or wealthy celebrities. Individual users like you and me are also targets. As long as you’re connected to the Internet, you can become a victim of cyber attacks.
What does it all mean?
Last year, Ginni Rometty, IBM’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “Cybercrime is the greatest threat to every company in the world.” And she was right. During the next five years, cybercrime might become the greatest threat to every person, place and thing in the world. With evolving technology comes evolving hackers, and we are behind in security. Understanding the cyber terminology, threats and opportunities is critical for every person in every business across all industries. By providing advanced cyber training and education solutions in all departments of your business, from marketing and sales to IT and InfoSec, you are investing in your company’s protection against cyber threats. Learn more at Cybint Solutions.
