When you know exactly which data you have about any given data subject, it's easier to identify data that falls under the GDPR's requirement to protect any information "relating to an identified or identifiable data subject," or aligns with the CCPA's even more rigorous requirement to protect any information that "identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or may reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household." In turn, identifying data that the law requires you to protect helps to ensure that you are have appropriate protection policies and reliable data privacy controls in place.Ī recent industry analyst estimate, based on surveying the impact of GDPR, place the average time to respond to a data access inquiry at more than a week and the cost per request at about $1,400. The ability to precisely link all data about an individual’s attributes also makes it easier to enable and manage data use consent and other rights-a main tenant of ensuring compliance with the GDPR, the CCPA, and other privacy regulations. Understanding this data at a granular level enables you to achieve deeper insight into customer preferences and behaviors. It can also provide visibility into how you know those things-what actual data records you hold about your customers, which systems hold the records, and how those records are related and connected. Why is data mapping important?ĭata mapping helps you establish a single source of truth for business-critical personal and sensitive data about your customers. You also need to understand customer data in the context of what the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) refer to as data subjects-in other words, specific, identifiable individuals who have data access rights and need transparency into how you handle their data. You need an automated, reliable data mapping solution to support compliance efforts.