CNIL Updates Its Practice Guide for the Security of Personal Data

🔒 On March 26, 2024, the CNIL (French data protection authority) published the latest edition of its Practice Guide for the Security of Personal Data. This guide is aimed at assisting organizations, especially DPOs, CISOs, computer scientists, and privacy lawyers, in understanding and implementing robust security measures to comply with Article 32 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The guide has been enriched with five new factsheets covering emerging and critical areas in data security, including cloud computing, mobile applications, artificial intelligence, application programming interfaces (APIs), and data management security. 🚀 The guide also updates existing factsheets, such as those on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices, and splits and elaborates on topics for a more in-depth analysis.

🎯 Key recommendations include the integration of data protection into decision-making processes, involvement of management in setting security objectives, and formalizing an IT security action plan. It also highlights the importance of user management through authenticating users, managing access, and raising awareness among users about the significance of privacy and security challenges. Additionally, the guide addresses the technical aspects of securing an organization’s IT infrastructure, including workstations, mobile computing, and network protection, emphasizing the necessity of updates, encryption, and monitoring to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

In preparing for potential incidents, the guide advocates for the implementation of logging operations, regular backups, and the development of business continuity plans to ensure resilience against and swift recovery from disruptions. Furthermore, it underscores the strategic management of data processors and the secure deletion of data as critical components of a holistic data protection strategy.

🛡️ The 2024 CNIL Practice Guide serves not only as a set of guidelines but also as a tool for organizations to assess their current security measures, identify areas for improvement, and adapt their strategies to meet the highest standards of data protection. The CNIL emphasizes the guide’s role in streamlining the implementation of GDPR-mandated security measures, providing a clear framework for organizations to assess and enhance their data protection strategies.

With the integration of new topics and the detailed expansion of existing ones, the 2024 edition of the Practice Guide for the Security of Personal Data represents a comprehensive update, ensuring that stakeholders have access to the latest information and recommendations to safeguard personal data against contemporary threats and vulnerabilities.

The guide has been released in English – you can read the press release here and the guide here.