Overview
IT professionals must ensure compliance with various laws, policies, and regulations, which differ based on jurisdiction and industry. Non-compliance can result in severe consequences, including fines, job loss, or incarceration.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- Compliance requirements can originate from business type, national, state, local, or international laws.
- Failure to meet compliance standards may result in penalties, including fines, employment termination, or jail time.
- Compliance rules can apply to specific regions or have broader, international implications.
Data Localization and GDPR
- Data localization laws require data collected in a particular country to remain within that country.
- GDPR mandates that data on European Union citizens must be stored in the EU unless the user consents otherwise.
- GDPR covers protection and privacy of personal data such as names, addresses, financial information, and browsing history.
- Individuals have control over their personal data, including the right to have their data removed from services.
- GDPR’s primary goal is to empower individuals with control over their data, not just provide a right to be forgotten.
PCI DSS and Industry Compliance
- PCI DSS is a non-governmental compliance standard created by the payment card industry to safeguard credit card data.
- The standard focuses on six areas: building secure networks, protecting cardholder data, maintaining vulnerability management, implementing access controls, regular monitoring/testing, and maintaining an information security policy.
- Audits are commonly performed to assess organizational adherence to PCI DSS requirements.
- Organizations failing to comply with PCI DSS may lose the ability to process credit cards.