Alex Franch
Data minimisation means that organisations collect and process only the personal data necessary to achieve their specific purpose. By restricting data retention and collection, businesses can reduce the risk of data breaches and strengthen compliance with privacy regulations.
It is a core principle of data protection laws, such as UK GDPR and EU GDPR.
What is the Data Minimisation Principle?
The data minimisation principle revolves around three key concepts:
- Adequacy: The data collected should be sufficient for its purpose.
- Relevance: Only data directly related to the purpose should be processed.
- Necessity: Organisations should not collect more data than needed for the specific task.
How to Implement Data Minimisation
To follow the data minimisation principle, organisations should:
- Identify the Purpose: Clearly define the reason for collecting and processing personal data.
- Review Data Regularly: Ensure that personal data remains relevant and up to date, deleting unnecessary information.
- Minimise Special Category Data: Extra care should be taken when processing sensitive personal data, ensuring compliance with legal obligations.
The Importance of Data Minimisation for GDPR
Under GDPR, adhering to the data minimisation principle protects individuals' privacy and reduces the amount of data an organisation needs to safeguard. This reduces the risks associated with data breaches and ensures better compliance with data protection laws.
Disclaimer
This article does not constitute legal advice in any form and only seeks to break down some of the main points set out by publicly available sources such as the ICO.
Key Takeaways & Wrap Up
In this article, we have helped you understand the following:
- Data minimisation means collecting and processing only the personal data necessary to achieve a specific purpose, as required by GDPR.
- The data minimisation principle ensures organisations collect only the personal data necessary, focusing on adequacy, relevance, and necessity.
- Implementing data minimisation involves clearly defining the purpose of data collection, regularly reviewing data, and minimising sensitive data processing.
- Adhering to this principle reduces the risk of data breaches and ensures compliance with GDPR, safeguarding individuals' privacy.
Data Minimisation FAQs
What is an example of data minimisation?
An organisation asking for a customer’s email address to send order confirmations but not requesting additional personal information like their home address unless necessary.
Why is data minimisation important?
Data minimisation reduces the risks of holding excessive personal data, which can result in breaches or non-compliance with GDPR.
How can organisations achieve data minimisation?
By conducting regular data audits, removing irrelevant data, and ensuring that only essential information is collected for specific purposes.
How does data minimisation impact data breaches?
Minimising the amount of data processed reduces the overall exposure to risks, limiting the potential damage from data breaches.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to connect all my tools and third parties?
We never have access to any of your data, our platform is able to scan each tool and provide recommendations without needing to access any of the data within those tools. There's no need for your dev' team to do anything, there are no security risks, just tell us the tools you use and we will do the rest.
What is the scope of my privacy policy?
Our policies are not just about my website or service. Once set up, our platform will help you map-out internal and external processes, such as HR, finance, and more!
Do I need to replace my current policy for the privacy portal?
We recommend replacing your current policy with our policy, this way you’ll remain compliant as your business changes and as the laws update.
Do I need help filling out my details?
Setting up is easy, just follow the on-screen commands and go through a few short steps to add your tools. You don't need any technical ability, anything you don't know the answer to you can ask us via our live chat or add later.
Why can’t I just use a template and add it to my website myself?
A template will not be applicable to your particular business as there are many things to consider for each tool you use. Also the template will not automatically update when changes happen in your business and when changes to GDPR laws are released. This can leave you vulnerable to breaking GDPR laws.
What if you don’t have the tools and third parties that I have?
We have a huge selection of tools pre-loaded and anything you don't see you can add directly from the platform as well as mapping data for any custom software you may use.
Which plan should I choose?
Our Essential Plan is perfect for people just getting started, small businesses, self-employed people and early stage companies. It allows you to get set up and start making your site GDPR compliant. You can move to our pro plan when you grow and your needs become more complex.
Our Pro Plan is aimed at SMEs and is our most popular plan as it includes everything you'll need such as a cookie banner, multiple languages as well as dedicated support.
Our Agency Plan is aimed at businesses that operate with clients needing GDPR solutions. The plan allows you to onboard clients as well as benefit from the Pro Plan for your own site.
Our Enterprise Plan is our most customisable and inclusive plan aimed at large, corporate businesses. We will essentially build you a bespoke plan with full maintenance support, onboarding classes and full company-wide access.
Feel free to get in touch to discuss our GDPR Compliance Software solution.
How easy is it to set up?
Signing up is super easy. The platform will ask you a few basic questions and then you can add your tools - don't worry if you don't know them all, you can come back and add tools at any point. The platform will then generate you the correct privacy policy based on your information, you can there share it directly on your site. That's it!
What size companies is Privasee aimed at?
Privasee has a plan for smaller companies as well as larger enterprise companies. For companies small to medium you can signup directly. For bigger enterprise companies get in touch with your requirements and our team will build you a bespoke plan.
I already have a privacy policy, do I need Privasee?
You have a legal responsibility to keep your policy up to date with every change in legal requirements for every tool you have. With Privasee you are always covered.