12/03/2024
A RODO compliance audit is a review of a company’s operations and its assessment in the context of compliance with personal data regulations. With the RODO audit, the entrepreneur obtains information on the effectiveness of the technical and organizational measures in place, so that, once the recommendations are implemented, it can minimize the risk of breaking the security measures in place.
A RODO compliance audit is a comprehensive review of a company’s operations in the context of processing compliance with personal data regulations. The controller, as well as the processor, has a number of legal obligations, the implementation of which should also be regularly evaluated. It is worth defining the scope of a potential audit so as to focus on issues where the organization is unsure whether it is complying with the requirements of RODO. The scope of the audit may also be derived from the annual audit plan, as in the case of the 2024 sector audit plan. of the President of the Office of the President of the Public Procurement Office, according to which, in the current year, the manner of securing and sharing personal data processed in connection with the use of web applications will be inspected, as well as the correctness of compliance with the information obligation. For larger organizations, the audit may cover specific departments, or the tools used. A RODO audit can be conducted at various stages of the procedures. As a rule, it is carried out both immediately prior to the implementation of the relevant procedures, which allows to obtain knowledge of the the initial situation in the company, as well as after the implementation of RODO in the company as a cyclical verification of the effectiveness of already implemented solutions.
For what purpose is an RODO audit conducted? The purpose of the RODO compliance audit is primarily to verify that, within the scope of the audit, all the obligations of an entrepreneur under the data protection law that the legislator imposes on the organization are being implemented correctly. Another task of the RODO audit is to verify that recommendations from previous audits have been implemented. In addition to this, the audit is also intended to answer the question of whether the company’s employees are aware of their data protection responsibilities and whether they comply with them.
A natural consequence of an audit should be an audit report. The document should include information on the scope of the tests conducted and an indication of any deficiencies and inconsistencies. In addition, the RODO compliance audit report should include recommended corrective actions. It is good practice to indicate the degree of risk associated with each listed nonconformity so that corrective actions can be properly prioritized. The entrepreneur will have to appoint a person responsible for monitoring the implementation of corrective actions.
The RODO audit takes place in several stages. As a rule, it is composed of three steps. The first involves the collection of information about the personal data processed by the entrepreneur and the actions taken as part of the process. This stage of the RODO audit also includes identifying the company’s cybersecurity policy protection measures. The goal of the first part of the RODO compliance audit is to determine the company’s baseline. This phase is followed by the analysis of the collected information and its evaluation. It can be seen as a stage of control. The final stage of the RODO compliance audit includes the preparation of data protection recommendations and recommendations for the future.
The law does not impose any specific guidelines on businesses regarding the entity that can conduct an RODO compliance audit. Companies have a lot of leeway in this regard. As a rule, it can be carried out by an employee of the company where the audit is being carried out, as well as by an external entity that provides services that include personal data compliance audits. Many entrepreneurs decide to choose their own employee – mainly for financial reasons. However, this is not always the right decision. Why? First of all, employees in most cases, even if they are responsible in the company for implementing data protection procedures, do not have enough knowledge about conducting audits. And if this one is to be qualitative, it should be carried out by competent people, distinguished by their knowledge and experience in this field. Secondly, conducting an audit by an external entity is a guarantee of the maximum level of objectivity and independence when analyzing the collected data.
Since the law does not impose specific deadlines for companies to conduct audits, many companies only conduct audits when they are forced to. A typical situation might be the conduct of an audit as a result of a data leak incident, or after receiving a notice from the Data Protection Authority in connection with a complaint filed against the company by an aggrieved data subject. Meanwhile, it is safer and, in fact, also cheaper to conduct an audit periodically, preferably once a year.
Conducting an RODO compliance audit will allow a business to detect any negligence that could result in a data protection breach. This process requires a thorough analysis of processes, procedures used, documentation, technical means used, as well as employee knowledge and awareness. It is undoubtedly time-consuming and expensive. In addition, it requires the involvement of many employees, so many companies limit the frequency with which it is carried out.
The RODO compliance audit allows you to check and assess the effectiveness of the measures – both technical and organizational – used by the company to ensure the security of the processed data. Without it, it is difficult to imagine providing an adequate level of cyber security. The lack of periodic audits increases the risk of a breach, and the administrator is then unable to take appropriate corrective action. RODO compliance audits are important not only because of the potential loss of resources, money or image, but also because of the possibility of a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation, which can result in an administrative fine by the President of the DPA. An analysis of the authority’s past practice shows that it emphasizes regular testing and evaluation of the solutions used.
If companies for some reason do not want to conduct audits on a regular basis, they should do so at least when there has been a breach in the security measures in place. It will help them learn the cause of the incident and be able to implement better safeguards to minimize the risk of repeat problems in the future.
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