In the era of almost daily news accounts of massive retailer credit card data, employer human resources data, and health care provider patient medical data security breaches, the legal and business imperative for data and data system protection needs no explanation. Suffice it to say that privacy and data security are increasingly regulated and the topic of litigation. Data is also a rich source for evidence in litigation and, for many companies, a valuable asset. What is less apparent, however, to many lawyers, business people, and even information professionals, is exactly how to properly manage information and its privacy and security. However, over the past several decades, frameworks, standards, and best practices have been developed for establishing and managing a comprehensive privacy, data protection and information governance program. This article summarizes those learnings to suggest an approach for how to design and run a program that is right for your company.

Program Elements and Framework

For any privacy, data protection, and information governance program to be effective, it requires a multidisciplinary effort with a mandate from the Board and C-suite, and ongoing assessment and maturement. What is legally required, cost beneficial, and otherwise reasonable under the circumstances will differ based on company size, industry, jurisdictional footprint, and corporate philosophy. Accordingly, data management programs must be developed and evaluated individually — sadly, there is no boilerplate, one-size-fits-all model. However, there are paradigms, elements and best practices, discussed below, that all good programs have in common.

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