HITRUST has combined the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into the HITRUST Cybersecurity Framework (HITRUST HSF) and is working toward the creation of a single framework and assessment covering all regulatory requirements.
Many countries have introduced new data privacy and security regulations that require companies to implement new policies, procedures, and technologies to keep consumers’ and customers’ data private and confidential. Organizations that wish to conduct business globally must ensure they comply with these country-specific regulations and should conduct assessments to make sure they are fully compliant. The penalties for violations of these regulations can be considerable. GDPR violations can attract a fine up to 4% of global annual turnover, or €20 million, whichever is greater.
Meeting complex compliance requirements and assessing compliance efforts can be a major challenge, although HITRUST’s “one framework, one assessment” model makes the process as simple as possible.
“As countries around the world continue to adopt and advance data protection laws, the challenge of doing business on a global scale grows increasingly complex,” said HITRUST chief privacy officer, Anne Kimbol. “Many countries have their own unique regulatory requirements, creating costs and challenges for organizations to determine if they are compliant to conduct business globally.”
HITRUST has completed the formal application process to the Irish Data Protection Commission and the EU Data Protection Board to have the HITRUST CSF officially recognized as meeting GDPR certification standards and hopes to be confirmed as an accredited certification body for GDPR.
In addition to GDPR, HITRUST has incorporated the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) into the HITRUST HSF and is currently working toward becoming an Accountability Agent under Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules and Procedures for Processing programs.
“Businesses leveraging the HITRUST Approach will be able to leverage a single HITRUST CSF Assessment to report their security, privacy and compliance posture to various audiences globally,” explained HITRUST VP of standards and analysis, Bryan Cline.
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