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Organising events means handling large quantities of data, from attendee names and addresses to credit card details and other payment information. It’s crucial to have data protection strategies in place to safeguard this information, but it’s also a requirement by law—for example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU.
In this article, we’ll run through how data privacy impacts your events and why ISO certification is necessary for streamlining processes.
The Impact of Data Protection Regulations on Your Events
In recent years, more and more companies have become worried about data privacy and online security. The introduction of data protection regulations like the GDPR has further cemented people's concerns about data protection practices. For the events industry, in particular, these regulations introduced a huge shift. When collecting sensitive information from registration forms, such as attendee names, contact details, and addresses, event organisers must gain consent and provide transparency about how attendee data is used, shared, and stored. Without specific consent, for instance, organisations cannot use attendee emails for other purposes, such as to send marketing materials.
Similarly, data privacy rules and regulations bring complexities to vendor selection. Companies must also vet suppliers' data protection practices and contracts to ensure compliance, which includes events management software. This means that every client using event management software must send questionnaires to assess data protection compliance, sub-processing agreements, data collection practices, and the like.
Not only are these questionnaires time-consuming for clients, but they're also burdensome for events management software companies. If every client sends different questionnaires, software companies must spend significant time gathering information and answering questions individually to cater to different nuances. This makes the need for a standardised solution even greater. That's why ISO certification is so important.
Simplifying Data Protection Assessments Through ISO Standardisation
ISO is an industry-recognised certification that ensures a company meets certain quality assurance standards. The two main standards are ISO 27001 and SOC2 (mainly US). An organisation can only achieve ISO certification if they have appropriate data security and information technology controls. Since an ISO-certified company has already undergone the relevant assessment of its data protection controls, it eliminates the need for further checks—including by their customers.
As a result, there's no need for countless questionnaires. ISO certification in itself is enough proof that an organisation has tight data protection measures. Once received, a company can simply share its ISO documentation with a client or supplier, rather than spending time filling out time-consuming questionnaires. In many cases, simply seeing the fact a company is ISO-certified removes any need to check any documentation.
Achieving Event Success with ISO Certification
Navigating the impact of data protection regulations on events is imperative due to the sensitive nature of attendee and vendor information. To ensure compliance and maximise the success of your events, certification is necessary to streamline processes and reduce the burden on your events teams. Check out leading event management software idloom for all your event management needs. As an ISO 27001-certified platform, idloom is reliant on the highest data security practices to keep your data safe.