State Officials Offer Tips to Businesses on Keeping Customers Data Safe
Wednesday, September 18th, 2019 -- 7:38 AM
(WRN) -These days it's less a matter of if a company's data is stolen, but when: but state officials have some tips on protecting your business and your customers.Data breaches are becoming more common across the country, and state officials say you should take a look at what information your company is storing, and why. Consumer protection administrator Lara Sutherlin says one good example is making sure you're not saving customer's credit card data by accident.
"You can change those default settings, so you don't store it, so the customer has to put it back in. That's actually safer for both the customer and the business."
Sutherlin says all of your employees should know the best practices on data retention.
"Have written policies and procedures on how you keep that data safe, and make sure that everyone in your business is aware of what that data security policy is."
Sutherlin says it's a good idea for businesses to do an audit of just how they handle customer and employee data.
"You need to track your personal information through your business by talking to your sales department, your IT staff, your HR, talking to all your staff, and making sure you understand where it's coming from and how they're storing it."
You can find tips online at D A T C P dot WI dot gov.
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