Whilst tax season has come and gone for another year, there is little time for accountants to rest on their laurels. Attentions now turn to undertaking non-tax return work for clients and in many cases reviewing and running the practice. Now is also the best time to review your privacy policy.
Why? Over the past couple of months you have probably had more interactions and sharing of data with your clients than at any other time of the year. Now is a great time to review your privacy policy and to check the systems and procedures you implemented in the past couple of months are accurately reflected in your privacy statement.
Do it now, before you and your staff forget how you worked with your clients’ personal data.
Privacy Policy Review
These are the things to check and where necessary amend the wording on your privacy policy to accurately reflect your data protection procedures.
- Why do you need to collect and store personal data?
- How do you collect and use personal data?
- How long do you retain personal data for?
- How do you store personal data and what steps do you take to reassure people that your data storage systems are robust?
- How and when do you share personal data with third parties?
- What are your processes for updating or deleting personal data?
- How is personal data used for marketing purposes and what steps are taken to ensure those who ‘opt-out’ do not continue to receive marketing communications from your practice?
- Who should people contact within the practice if they have questions relating to the use of their personal data?
As well as reviewing your privacy policy, it also makes sense to review your terms and conditions and any links between these two documents.
Whilst GDPR came into effect on 25 May last year, you still have to review and ensure you are complying with the regulations on a day to day basis. So act now, while everything is still fresh in your minds.
Click here to read the Momentum for Professionals privacy policy.
