What You Need to Know About CCPA Data Mapping

By Stephanie Ross

In an attempt to avoid falling victim to cybercriminals or being a contributor to the increasing statistics of data breaching incidents, companies have been encouraged to revise their privacy operations and how they choose to collect, use, and protect customer data. For a better approach to improving their management system, these companies need a full-on understanding of data mapping CCPA and what their operations are really about.

What Is Data Mapping?

Data mapping is a system that matches data fields across different sources in an organization. It is the process of recording collected data and identifying the best possible ways that it could be managed within the organization and beyond.

With Data Mapping, organizations can keep track of the information they collect from their customers, the nature of the information, where it is stored,  and make provisions for the best security measures to protect that data from getting into the wrong hands. 

How to get started with CCPA Data Mapping

Since the enforcement of CCPA only began on July 1, 2020,  several companies are still struggling to start a compliance journey and get their customers on board. With a large portion of business workloads being moved to the cloud, organizations are finding it difficult to navigate around their cloud assets, thereby complicating documentation and tracking procedures.

However, the adoption of CCPA compliance software will aid this process, but the absence of total understanding in this system remains the major cause behind their struggle. 

To streamline the CCPA compliance process, organizations need to know that this statute works in favor of consumers. It gives Californian residents the right to:

  • know and have control over what information is collected, shared, and how it is used.
  • delete and upload specific information that they no longer desire to share – this comes with certain exceptions to promote credibility.
  • unsubscribe from any operation that sells their data.
  • non-discrimination for exercising these rights.

For the first step in ensuring compliance, organizations need to do a self-evaluation exercise on the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) they manage to help them map their data effectively:

  • What PII does your organization collect and possess?
  • What is your organization’s approach to collecting PII?
  • Where and how does your organization store PII?
  • Where does your organization transfer PII?
  • What is the nature of the transfers? Sales or provision of service?

Although answering these questions manually may be time-consuming and prone to error, they will guide your organization’s journey in beginning an effective compliance program.

Why is Data Mapping for CCPA Important?

For certain businesses operating in California, companies are required to be responsible for the data they collect. And to ensure they stay accountable, a CCPA compliant data mapping activity is necessary. Here are the reasons why:

1. Identifying protected PII

CCPA has the ability to identify, relate, describe, and associate any information with a specific California consumer. It entails data like geolocation information, biometric information, household information, and education information. To make sure that this data is protected, a data mapping exercise is important.

2. Identifying the sources of PII

Collecting thousands of PII daily is the practice of many organizations – this could lead to data loss or a record of unidentified data. To avoid this, data mapping activity is carried out to categorize the sources of each collected PII. It also helps in identifying the best protection method to be enforced to boost data security.

3. Managing consumer request

With an effective data mapping program, consumers can easily access the information they provided and delete it when necessary. If their personal data has not been accurately mapped, granting their access will be difficult and could put an organization at a risk of facing regulatory sanctions if requests aren’t responded to within 45 days.

 

Interesting Related Article: “5 Businesses That Benefit from Mapping Software“