The Key to GDPR Compliance: An Effective Data Mapping Strategy

Data mapping is a useful tool to ensure compliance with data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union and other similar laws.

The data privacy regulations implicitly require you to know how your data flows within your organization. It is not explicitly prescribed as a legal requirement, but without it, you can’t implement the basic GDPR principles.

Simply put, you must conduct a data mapping exercise in your organization. It is very useful for your privacy compliance efforts.

What is Data Mapping?

Data mapping creates a visual representation of an organization's data flows, including the sources, storage, and destinations of personal data. It is a critical component of GDPR compliance because it helps organizations understand how personal data is collected, processed, and stored and identify potential risks to individuals' privacy rights.

Under the GDPR, organizations must demonstrate that they have appropriate measures to protect personal data and ensure its security. Data mapping gives organizations a clear picture of their data, enabling them to identify and mitigate risks, such as data breaches, unauthorized access, and data loss.

When it comes to personal data flows, the data mapping exercise should entail all the data processing activities, including but not limited to:

• Purposes of data processing for each type of data
• Data sources from which you obtain personal data
• Categories of personal data processed
• Methods of data collection
• Legal basis for the data processing of each category of personal data
• Identification of data processors and subprocessors with whom personal data is shared
• International data transfers, if any
• Lawful basis for each international data transfer
• The data retention period for each type of user data

This is not a definitive list, but you get an idea of the data mapping exercise.

Why Do We Need Personal Data Mapping?

Personal data mapping is important for organizations because it helps them comply with data protection laws, increase transparency, improve data protection, better manage data, and demonstrate accountability. By creating a visual representation of their personal data, organizations can identify risks and duplicated data, respond to data subject rights requests, and demonstrate their commitment to protecting individuals' privacy rights.

An effective data map shall give you an overview of your organization's personal data lifecycle.

The overview will inform your decisions related to the following:

• Whether you need to obtain user consent
• Whether you need a consent management tool
• Privacy risks related to data breaches
• Whether you need any additional data security measures
• Responding to data subject access requests (DSARs)
• Records of processing activities (ROPA)
• The compliance of the stakeholders involved in the data processing activities and how they use data
• International data transfer compliance, etc.

As we explained above, it is not required, but it will give you a better idea of what you need to do regarding EU GDPR compliance.

Data Mapping v. Data Protection Impact Assessment: What are the Differences?

Data mapping and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) are important tools for organizations to ensure they meet their obligations under data protection laws, such as the GDPR. However, they have different purposes and functions.

Data mapping creates a visual representation of an organization's data flows, including the sources, storage, and destinations of personal data. It provides organizations with a clear understanding of their personal data and how it is processed.

DPIAs, on the other hand, are systematic assessments of the potential privacy risks associated with specific processing activities. They are used to identify and evaluate the risks to individuals' privacy rights and determine appropriate measures to mitigate those risks.

DPIAs are required under the GDPR for certain high-risk processing activities, such as large-scale profiling or monitoring of individuals. By conducting a DPIA, organizations can demonstrate their commitment to protecting personal data and ensure they have appropriate measures to mitigate privacy risks.

Data mapping is part of a DPIA. While the data map shows the personal information flow, the DPIA handles data management risks and mitigation of those risks. A DPIA is also more comprehensive. A data map, or a data inventory, will give you only the facts about data flows. A DPIA requires you to identify the risks based on these facts and identify measures to mitigate them.

Read more about the basics of DPIA and how to conduct a DPIA.

Who In Our Organization Should Conduct the Data Mapping Exercise?

The data mapping exercise is typically led by the Data Protection Officer (DPO) or a team responsible for data protection and privacy within an organization. However, it should involve a cross-functional team from different departments to ensure that all relevant data flows and processes are captured. This could include in-house representatives from IT, HR, Legal, Marketing, and other departments that process personal data.

Involving a cross-functional team in the data mapping exercise helps ensure that all personal data processed by the organization is captured and that the data mapping accurately reflects the organization's data flows and processes.

Additionally, the team responsible for conducting the data mapping should understand data protection laws and the organization's data protection policies and procedures. They should also be trained to accurately map the organization's data flows and processes and understand the importance of protecting personal data.

In conclusion, the data mapping exercise should be led by the DPO or a team responsible for data protection and privacy. It should involve representatives from different departments within the organization to ensure that all relevant data flows and processes are captured.

How to Conduct GDPR Data Mapping?

The purpose of this activity is to identify the flows of data within an organization because while data is handled by a specific data controller and its processors, such data is the responsibility of that data controller.

Here are the steps to conduct a GDPR data mapping exercise:

1. Define scope: Determine the scope of the data mapping exercise.
2. Identify data flows: Map out personal data sources, storage, and destinations.
3. Evaluate risks: Evaluate the risks to individuals' privacy rights associated with each data flow.
4. Document data flows: Document the data flows, including the types of personal data, systems, and risks involved.
5. Identify protection measures: Identify measures to mitigate privacy risks, such as encryption, pseudonymization, and access controls.
6. Review and update: Regularly review and update the data mapping.
7. Provide transparency: Make the data mapping available to individuals and stakeholders.
8. Demonstrate accountability: Use the data mapping as evidence of compliance and commitment to protecting privacy rights.

This ongoing process should be done with transparency, accountability, and data protection by design and default in mind. You can also use a simple table to list all the processing activities from start to finish. If you use a template, adjust it to your data mapping process.

Alternatively, you can use data mapping software to simplify the process. However, automation comes at a price, and you may likely need to pay for that.

The person conducting the data mapping exercise needs to identify everything happening to personal data from the moment of data collection to the moment of data deletion.

Also, discuss the data flows with all the stakeholders in your business. Marketing teams, sales teams, HR departments, and web development teams know best what’s going on with the personal data you control. If you want your data map to be accurate, you must ensure that the input is accurate. That’s one of the main challenges of data mapping.

The data flow mapping tool you use is of lesser importance. You can count on a reliable data inventory as long as you have properly identified all the points where you process data and transfer it to different data processors and subprocessors.

What Are Records of Processing Activities, and Why Do We Need Them?

Records of processing activities (ROPA) is one of the regulatory requirements under the GDPR. They are records that organizations must maintain to demonstrate their compliance with the GDPR and provide transparency about processing personal data. Article 30 of the GDPR explicitly requires all businesses to maintain ROPA for all processing activities.

The ROPA is very similar to a data map. The controller must maintain a ROPA that contains the following:

• The name and contact details of the controller and their DPO
• The purposes of the processing
• The categories of data subjects and the categories of personal data;
• The third parties to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed
• Where applicable, transfers of personal data and the documentation of suitable safeguards
• Where possible, the data retention periods
• Where possible, a general description of the technical and organizational security measures

The processor must contain a ROPA that contains the following:

• The name and contact details of the processor or processors and each controller on behalf of which the processor is acting and their DPO
• The categories of processing carried out on behalf of each controller
• Where applicable, transfers of personal data and the documentation of suitable safeguards
• Where possible, a general description of the technical and organizational security measures.

Overall, ROPA is a key tool in ensuring that organizations can meet their obligations under the GDPR, protect the privacy rights of individuals, and maintain the trust of their customers and stakeholders. The data mapping exercise will greatly help create your ROPA.

How Data Flow Mapping Supports Responding to Data Subject Requests and Overall GDPR Compliance

If your data inventory is messy, you’ll need time to respond to a DSAR. Privacy laws require you to respond within a given timeframe, and having a data map will help you identify where to look to fulfill the data subject request and comply with the law.

Data flow mapping helps in responding to data subject requests and complying with the GDPR in several ways:

1. Understanding personal data: By mapping out the sources, storage, and destinations of personal data, organizations can get a better understanding of what personal data they hold, process, and share.
2. Identifying data subjects: Data flow mapping can help organizations identify the individuals whose personal data they process, which is crucial in responding to data subject requests.
3. Providing transparency: Data flow mapping can help organizations to provide transparency about their data processing activities. This is important in responding to data subject requests, where individuals are entitled to know what personal data is being processed about them and for what purposes.
4. Demonstrating accountability: By maintaining accurate and up-to-date data flow maps, organizations can demonstrate their accountability for protecting personal data, which is a requirement of the GDPR.
5. Improving data protection measures: Data flow mapping can help organizations identify privacy risks associated with data processing activities. By addressing these risks, organizations can improve their overall privacy and security posture and reduce the risk of breaches or violations.
6. Responding to data subject requests: Data flow mapping can help organizations to respond to data subject requests more efficiently and effectively. Organizations can provide individuals with access to their data, rectify inaccuracies, or delete it if requested by having a clear understanding of the personal data that they process.
   

Final Thoughts

Data flow mapping is a valuable tool in supporting GDPR compliance and ensuring that organizations can meet their obligations under the regulation. By mapping out the processing of personal data, organizations can better understand what personal data they hold, ensure that it is protected, and demonstrate their commitment to protecting privacy rights.