Each year on 28th January, Data Privacy Day is marked internationally. It is a day designed to bring awareness to the growing need for sharing best practices concerned with privacy and data protection.
With this important day just around the corner, it’s an ideal time to re-evaluate how you share your data as an event attendee and which questions you should be asking about data security, especially if you’re involved in planning and organising events for your company or others.
Digging into the Data Detail
When you attend an event, whether in-person, virtually, or in a hybrid capacity, handing over your personal data is a fundamental part of the attendee experience. At each point of the process: registering for the event, printing your badge or signing into an event app, all of these stages require you to input your personal data.
As the event organiser, it is crucial to know what is happening to this information and how it is stored. You want to be able to confidently answer any attendee, exhibitor and sponsor questions concerning data.
This is always an easier task if your event provider communicates clearly on their information security policies and processes and if their tech is rock-solid and robust.
From an event attendee perspective, typically, the personal information we’re referring to includes names and email addresses: the data required to authenticate you to make sure you are who you say you are.
When supporting the delivery of an event, we become the data processor, and CrowdComms ensures that data is treated with the utmost confidence. It is put through various technical and organisational measures to ensure that it is safe. But what does this entail exactly?
Password Protection
When using the CrowdComms platform, clients have secure access to their data. Both the back and front ends of the platform make use of complex passwords and the enablement of two-factor authentication. Unless specific circumstances around your event warrant more relaxed measures, we always encourage putting the highest level of access security in place.
Data Backup
Data Encryption
Training
Just as essential as having the right processes in place, all staff need to know how to handle data safely.
At CrowdComms, we provide all our employees with regular GDPR and information security training. They also have access to the information security team if ever they need support or advice.
Data Collection
When deciding which event tech provider to partner with, it’s a good idea to look at their data collection policies.
CrowdComms provides clear guidance on the minimum amount of data we collect, the reason behind the collection, and the length of time we need to hold the data. Delegates can use the privacy options within our Event Platform to opt in or out of certain aspects of the experience that may require using their data.
This list is by no means exhaustive but should be a good starting point when it’s time to talk data with your event technology partner.
If you’d like to chat to us further about keeping your event data safe, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!
