FEATURE INSIGHT
How blockchain preserves peace of mind for personally identifiable information
Ian Smith, chief executive officer and founder of Gospel Technology, explains why blockchain can transform the way businesses, HR and payroll work with personal data
D ata is central to business HR and payroll are no exception. From employee bank details to the addresses of next of kin, personally identifiable information (PII) is something that HR and payroll professionals are constantly managing. With the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) last year, it is no surprise that this sector in particular is under increased pressure to ensure data stays secure, with trust and compliance being central to both job functions. The implications for not maximising regulatory adherence and consumer data privacy rights now include substantial financial penalties, as well as major reputation damage. However, this is becoming increasingly challenging due to today’s evolving landscape, which calls for data sharing and digital collaboration to remain competitive and efficient. These demands combined with society’s data hypersensitivity and the growing threat of cyberattacks, highlight the significant challenge that HR and payroll professionals are facing today. The value of PII data Data is critical to every industry, and PII constitutes a great deal of this data operations and success in today’s digitally-dominated world, and
across all industries. In the last few years we have seen a significant increase in new technologies such as cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions or communication tools that facilitate the collection and sharing of data, to maximise its value and reap the many benefits associated with sharing internal data across different teams and partners. HR and payroll being no exception, where PII is used to identify, contact, locate and interact with individual members of staff, which allows them to provide a personalised and empathetic employee experience. ...highlight the significant challenge that HR and payroll professionals are facing today In today’s highly competitive business landscape, collaboration is essential to maximising opportunities. However, the risk of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands or cyber criminals exploiting loopholes in security processes means businesses are being overly cautious. For
many businesses, this has meant deploying zero-trust solutions which restrict access, negatively impacting business agility and collaboration. This approach is proving ineffective as can be seen in the repeated headlines around data breaches – a new approach is needed that secures PII data effectively while maximising its value, and the employee experience. Is it practical to place trust in ourselves? It has quickly become clear that employees trust their employers to ensure the ethical use of their data, which means businesses have to deploy the appropriate solutions and processes to protect PII and ensure it is used in the right way. What is often overlooked is that there is a moral obligation (as well as a regulatory need) for HR and payroll professionals to make sure they are keeping sensitive data secure at all times. As such, many businesses have invested not only in security software, but also in training programmes in an attempt to boost their employees’ security skills and establish best practices to limit human error and reduce internal threats. However, eliminating all human error is very difficult, for example an employee sending an email to someone by accident might not be a problem in and of itself, but if this email included the
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | July/August 2019 | Issue 52 40
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