Posts Tagged ‘compliance’

Time to Focus on Privacy Every Day

Friday, January 31st, 2014

This week January 28 was recognized around the world at International Data Privacy Day. Data Privacy Day is the perfect time to think about all things privacy. For example, consider all the computing devices and gadgets you use, including smartphones and tablets.  Many folks don’t realize these devices are continually collecting personal information about (more…)

Yes, You Still Need Policies for Your Outsourced Activities!

Friday, December 27th, 2013

Here’s a statement I’ve answered over 100 times (seriously!) in the past few years.

“We’ve outsourced that IT activity, so we don’t we don’t need a policy for it.”

The one word reply to this statement is, (more…)

If it was Intentional it is *NOT* Incidental

Wednesday, December 11th, 2013

In the past week I got the third question in a one month time-frame about the same topic. My unwritten, loosely followed rule is that if three different organizations ask me pretty much the same question in a month, then it is something worth writing about; why are so many (well, a handful) of the same questions occurring in such a short period of time? Is some vendor out there spreading horribly bad advice? Let’s consider the topic… (more…)

Organizations Need to Use More Than One Type of Encryption

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

Encryption has been talked about a lot lately.  I’ve gotten at least a couple dozen questions from my Compliance Helper clients in the past month.  They can pretty much be boiled down to this question:

What encryption solution should we use?

Many of the small and mid-size businesses I help, and many start-ups of any size, are under the assumption that if they get one encryption solution, it will (more…)

What You Need to Know for Retention Compliance

Wednesday, November 20th, 2013

One of the things I love about helping all my Compliance Helper (CH) clients with their information security and privacy compliance activities is that they often ask questions that most other small and mid-size organizations also have. So, I then have a great opportunity to share advice!  One of my recent conversations dealt with the challenges my mid-size client was having in trying to appropriately customize the data and records retention policy and procedure I provide through the CH service to fit his organization’s unique type of business associate service, while also meet compliance with the HIPAA retention requirements. The paraphrased questions below started our conversation after I advised that there are many types of documents that must be retained for at least 6 years to meet compliance: (more…)

If there’s a Shred of Evidence it’s Not Shredded

Monday, October 28th, 2013

“What’s the minimum shred size?”

Recently I got a great question from one of my Compliance Helper clients:

“This may seem like a silly question, but is there any type of HIPAA compliance requirements for shredder types?  For example, minimum shred size?”

Not a silly question at all! Of the organizations that shred their paper documents (there are still way too many that don’t), a large portion of them are not shredding their documents to a point that they are actually doing so effectively. Here are some points and tips (more…)

You Must Practice Daily Compliance Hygiene

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

Compliance, like much of life, takes ongoing effort

Okay, folks. Time for a reality check for what data protection compliance involves. 

You know what’s often tedious and hard? Well, a lot of things in life. (more…)

Ever Feel like Somebody is Watching You? They Are!

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

“Sometimes I feel like…somebody’s watching me! And I have no privacy!”

(The Rockwell hit from…quite appropriately…1984.)

Each day, we are tracked by the ‘smart’ systems, mobile apps, personal communication devices and other surveillance platforms that have become commonplace in our daily lives. In an effort to educate more people, and businesses, about the data trails they are leaving behind (and the companies, data bureaus and marketers who are sniffing out that trail), I created this new infographic (more…)

Use Encryption despite Your NSA Snooping Fears

Thursday, September 26th, 2013

I’ve received numerous questions from various news outlets, clients and colleagues since the published revelation that the NSA was getting the assistance of encryption vendors to decrypt messages throughout a very wide range of activities. A lot of folks are now throwing their hands in the air, claiming that encryption is now no longer effective, and planning to use something completely different.  Hmm…wait! Don’t throw out the encryption baby with the unsafe practices bathwater yet. Encryption is still an effective, and necessary, information security control to use. The following are (more…)

Top 4 Reasons Encryption Is Not Used

Friday, August 30th, 2013

Over the past week a few reporters who were following up on a recent breach of 9 million patient records for stories they were writing asked me basically the same question amongst all their others, “What are the barriers that stop healthcare organizations from encrypting their devices?” One of the resulting stories, by Marianne McGee, has been posted at HealthCareInfosecurity.  During my work with a wide range of small to large organizations, in a wide range of industries, I’ve found there are some common reasons why encryption is not implemented. Here are the top four I’ve run across. (more…)