5 GDPR compliance features to build into your contract management

Few people will have failed to notice the fact that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect on May 25th of 2018. The regulations give EU citizens enhanced rights to data privacy. This has put new demands on businesses who need to manage personal data in a particular way.

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According to the Information Commissioner’s Office, personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

This has implications for your contract management system. Here are five GDPR compliance features that you can build into yours.

Data security

When you set up a Contract Management System, data security should be a priority. In particular, you must have protection against anyone gaining access (hacking) into the database without permission. You must have clear procedures outlining how you will guard against and deal with situations where records are lost or destroyed accidentally.

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One personal data file

A good way of achieving this is to collate all personal data in one place so there is only one contract management system that contains personal data. Then check that the provider of any cloud-based storage that you use has optimum levels of security. Limiting access is using different levels for user-access permissions is a good option.

Make it easy to identify records

GDPR enshrined the individual’s “right to be forgotten” and to have “data portability”. This means that you must be able to find and delete contracts quickly if you need to so.

The contract must make areas such as the processor’s obligations very clear. Therefore, if you enter into a contract with anyone managing personal data on your behalf you must get the terms of that contract right.

By using a contract system with a function that allows you to set up templates in a central storage, you stay in control.

Make use of e-signatures

To comply with GDPR, an individual’s consent has to be “unambiguous, informed, specific, freely given and documented”. Advanced e-signatures make it easy to achieve this to store a record of the consent at the moment that the personal data is captured.

Tracking contract events

GDPR stipulates that data should not be processed for longer than is necessary. Tracking events in your system and setting up alerts can help with this.

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