Securiti leads GigaOm's DSPM Vendor Evaluation with top ratings across technical capabilities & business value.

View

Evolve Your Data Mapping

Published July 28, 2020
Author

Omer Imran Malik

Data Privacy Legal Manager, Securiti

FIP, CIPT, CIPM, CIPP/US

Listen to the content

Table of contents

Whether the goal is compliance or data governance, to assess risk and apply necessary controls, organizations must be able to accurately track a piece of information (data) from its point of collection to its eventual destruction.

Unfortunately, data, its flow, and usage, is a living organism which can change at any moment. Manual data mapping is a tedious, time-consuming process which can get outdated as soon as it is completed if changes to data and its flows are not continuously monitored and automatically updated. As with any manual process, this means going back to the drawing board to repeat this exercise, wasting time and resources in the process.

Privacy regulations such as EU-GDPR mandate that organizations, both controllers and processors maintain accurate Records of Processing Activities (RoPAs) that must be provided to authorities on demand in the form of Article 30 reports. These reports must be accurate and up-to-date. In an ever-changing and fluid IT environment, manually maintaining these RoPAs could be time-consuming and prone to errors.

Development teams constantly find themselves at odds with their compliance counterparts while trying to stay ahead of the requirements set by their organization’s data privacy policy. Without automated processes and programmatic interfaces, they are forced to create and maintain processing records manually which distracts them from their core function - which is building great products.

Automated data mapping with enrichment by subject matter experts is essential to maintain the quality and completeness of personal data processed by the organization and to ensure an effective and streamlined business process. While automation is the desired end game, organizations struggle with how to migrate their existing operations to this new paradigm and to keep it synchronized with their ever-changing data landscape.

Securiti’s Data Mapping Automation solution helps customers transition smoothly from their existing manual processes to a modern automated framework with minimal disruption.

Securiti can help!

Anyone who has gone through a manual data mapping exercise can attest to how tedious and time-consuming it can be. It offers at best a static, point-in-time view of the processing activity which in many cases is outdated before its completion. With Securiti Data Mapping Automation module, organizations can:

  • Maintain an accurate asset inventory by importing their asset database to Securiti sensitive data catalog, inviting SMEs to create and maintain assets through guided assessments or by synchronizing to their CMDB environments
  • Create and continuously enrich business processes through a collaborative, user-friendly interface
  • Track changes to assets, processes, and data handled by these systems through continuous monitoring and automated follow-up actions through flexible policy constructs
  • Assess the risks posed by data processing activities through automated assessments
  • Track vendor compliance
  • Generate accurate, up-to-date reports including Article 30 reports on demand to maintain compliance against regulatory requirements.

All of this is particularly important in large organizations with limited resources and no single owner to oversee the use of large volumes of personal data by multiple business units.

GDPR Article 30 requirements mandate controllers and processors employing 250 or more people to maintain a record of processing activities under its responsibility. Such a record, among other things, should maintain:

  • Purposes of processing
  • A description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data
  • The categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed including recipients in third countries or international organizations
  • Retention schedules of different categories of data, and
  • General description of the technical and organizational security measures

To meet these requirements organizations need to keep these records accessible and up-to-date. Static spreadsheets maintained by SMEs in individual business units are a great start but offer limited opportunities for privacy teams to scale and adapt to evolving regulatory requirements. Securiti’s data mapping automation module automates asset and data discovery, scanning, classification along with data mapping and visualization to provide an accurate picture of the data landscape, the volumes and categories of data subjects, and personal data being handled by individual processes and the third parties with which this data may be shared.

Lastly, with the rise of privacy engineering, development teams are looking for ways to design, build and manage products that process personal information while preserving the appropriate levels of privacy and security throughout the lifecycle of data that is processed. What if there was a way to bake privacy into the design and development process ensuring effective and integrated privacy-by-design principles in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Securiti offers an API driven, automated data mapping approach that compliments the secure software development lifecycle by:

  • Automating personal data discovery, classification and validation throughout the software lifecycle
  • Automating intelligent PIA and DPIA assessments to go along with the data mapping activity
  • Establishing effective privacy risk management that complements the SDLC process
  • Providing privacy training to development teams

Securiti’s automated data mapping solution also consolidates all processing activities, streamlining the Data Subject Rights fulfillment process for organizations by intelligently linking all the discovered personal data to unique identities through an AI-driven People Data-Graph building process. Breach management and response is also simplified with the availability of an accurate data map which includes an accurate description of any third party data transfers, identity and residency information of data subjects impacted by the data breach or incident.

Automated data mapping with enrichment by subject matter experts is essential to maintain the quality and completeness of personal data processed by the organization. The advantages of an effective and automated data mapping program includes:

  • Time and Cost savings through automation
  • Reduced risk of financial penalties and loss
  • Reduced risk of brand loss

Securiti’s Data Mapping Automation can help improve your organization's privacy posture. Watch a demo to learn more.

Join Our Newsletter

Get all the latest information, law updates and more delivered to your inbox


Share

More Stories that May Interest You
Videos
View More
Mitigating OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications 2025
Generative AI (GenAI) has transformed how enterprises operate, scale, and grow. There’s an AI application for every purpose, from increasing employee productivity to streamlining...
View More
DSPM vs. CSPM – What’s the Difference?
While the cloud has offered the world immense growth opportunities, it has also introduced unprecedented challenges and risks. Solutions like Cloud Security Posture Management...
View More
Top 6 DSPM Use Cases
With the advent of Generative AI (GenAI), data has become more dynamic. New data is generated faster than ever, transmitted to various systems, applications,...
View More
Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)
What is the Colorado Privacy Act? The CPA is a comprehensive privacy law signed on July 7, 2021. It established new standards for personal...
View More
Securiti for Copilot in SaaS
Accelerate Copilot Adoption Securely & Confidently Organizations are eager to adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot for increased productivity and efficiency. However, security concerns like data...
View More
Top 10 Considerations for Safely Using Unstructured Data with GenAI
A staggering 90% of an organization's data is unstructured. This data is rapidly being used to fuel GenAI applications like chatbots and AI search....
View More
Gencore AI: Building Safe, Enterprise-grade AI Systems in Minutes
As enterprises adopt generative AI, data and AI teams face numerous hurdles: securely connecting unstructured and structured data sources, maintaining proper controls and governance,...
View More
Navigating CPRA: Key Insights for Businesses
What is CPRA? The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) is California's state legislation aimed at protecting residents' digital privacy. It became effective on January...
View More
Navigating the Shift: Transitioning to PCI DSS v4.0
What is PCI DSS? PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards to ensure safe processing, storage, and...
View More
Securing Data+AI : Playbook for Trust, Risk, and Security Management (TRiSM)
AI's growing security risks have 48% of global CISOs alarmed. Join this keynote to learn about a practical playbook for enabling AI Trust, Risk,...

Spotlight Talks

Spotlight 11:29
Not Hype — Dye & Durham’s Analytics Head Shows What AI at Work Really Looks Like
Not Hype — Dye & Durham’s Analytics Head Shows What AI at Work Really Looks Like
Watch Now View
Spotlight 11:18
Rewiring Real Estate Finance — How Walker & Dunlop Is Giving Its $135B Portfolio a Data-First Refresh
Watch Now View
Spotlight 13:38
Accelerating Miracles — How Sanofi is Embedding AI to Significantly Reduce Drug Development Timelines
Sanofi Thumbnail
Watch Now View
Spotlight 10:35
There’s Been a Material Shift in the Data Center of Gravity
Watch Now View
Spotlight 14:21
AI Governance Is Much More than Technology Risk Mitigation
AI Governance Is Much More than Technology Risk Mitigation
Watch Now View
Spotlight 12:!3
You Can’t Build Pipelines, Warehouses, or AI Platforms Without Business Knowledge
Watch Now View
Spotlight 47:42
Cybersecurity – Where Leaders are Buying, Building, and Partnering
Rehan Jalil
Watch Now View
Spotlight 27:29
Building Safe AI with Databricks and Gencore
Rehan Jalil
Watch Now View
Spotlight 46:02
Building Safe Enterprise AI: A Practical Roadmap
Watch Now View
Spotlight 13:32
Ensuring Solid Governance Is Like Squeezing Jello
Watch Now View
Latest
View More
Databricks AI Summit (DAIS) 2025 Wrap Up
5 New Developments in Databricks and How Securiti Customers Benefit Concerns over the risk of leaking sensitive data are currently the number one blocker...
Inside Echoleak View More
Inside Echoleak
How Indirect Prompt Injections Exploit the AI Layer and How to Secure Your Data What is Echoleak? Echoleak (CVE-2025-32711) is a vulnerability discovered in...
What is SSPM? (SaaS Security Posture Management) View More
What is SSPM? (SaaS Security Posture Management)
This blog covers all the important details related to SSPM, including why it matters, how it works, and how organizations can choose the best...
View More
“Scraping Almost Always Illegal”, Netherlands DPA Declares
Explore the Dutch Data Protection Authority's guidelines on web scraping, its legal complexities, privacy risks, and other relevant details important to your organization.
Beyond DLP: Guide to Modern Data Protection with DSPM View More
Beyond DLP: Guide to Modern Data Protection with DSPM
Learn why traditional data security tools fall short in the cloud and AI era. Learn how DSPM helps secure sensitive data and ensure compliance.
Mastering Cookie Consent: Global Compliance & Customer Trust View More
Mastering Cookie Consent: Global Compliance & Customer Trust
Discover how to master cookie consent with strategies for global compliance and building customer trust while aligning with key data privacy regulations.
Understanding Data Regulations in Australia’s Telecom Sector View More
Understanding Data Regulations in Australia’s Telecom Sector
Gain insights into the key data regulations in Australia’s telecommunication sector. Learn how Securiti helps ensure swift compliance.
Top 3 Key Predictions on GenAI's Transformational Impact in 2025 View More
Top 3 Key Predictions on GenAI’s Transformational Impact in 2025
Discover how a leading Chief Data Officer (CDO) breaks down top predictions for GenAI’s transformative impact on operations and innovation in 2025.
Gencore AI and Amazon Bedrock View More
Building Enterprise-Grade AI with Gencore AI and Amazon Bedrock
Learn how to build secure enterprise AI copilots with Amazon Bedrock models, protect AI interactions with LLM Firewalls, and apply OWASP Top 10 LLM...
DSPM Vendor Due Diligence View More
DSPM Vendor Due Diligence
DSPM’s Buyer Guide ebook is designed to help CISOs and their teams ask the right questions and consider the right capabilities when looking for...
What's
New