Protecting customers’ information is one of the biggest responsibilities of a business. While small companies can safeguard user data with a secure payment management system, bigger companies, especially the ones operating in tech and finance, have to comply with a wide range of requirements imposed by governments and regulatory bodies.
To be compliant with the high standards required by policies, laws, and specifications pertaining to their organizational governance, companies that capture customer information through lead forms, instant messengers, call recordings, text messages, and emails have to follow certain best practices, starting with their staffing.
Officers for managing communication compliance
Companies require a compliance officer, cognizant of the nuances of relevant regulations, to ensure that they can oversee and manage their regulatory compliance issues.
For communication compliance to be thorough, companies need an officer who can formulate up-to-date compliance programs, along with being able to perform internal audits, review company policies, and consult on the regulatory challenges facing an organization.
Note that the officer must take responsibility for every department in the company adhering to text messaging compliance, WhatsApp compliance, and WeChat compliance requirements.
Further, organizations need to invest in compliance officers who will lead external, client, and regulatory audits along with efforts to secure the certifications demonstrating that the company meets the necessary data security requirements.
Apart from these efforts, companies’ compliance officers can enforce communication compliance across devices and networks by ensuring that sensitive information is encrypted, payments are secured, firewalls are put in place, phishing emails are filtered out, and employees are trained on safe procedures for data sharing.
ISO and SOC
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is a non-governmental entity that established the standards needed to guarantee that products, services, and systems are:
- Safe
- Legitimate
- Efficient
- High quality
ISO certifications apply to multiple sectors, and having one such as the ISO 27001 can serve as a business differentiator. With the certification, you can demonstrate to potential customers and other businesses that you are trustworthy enough to handle valuable third-party information assets or data and intellectual property.
Essentially, ISO 27001 is a standard that establishes requirements for a company’s Information Security Management System, which is a set of practices aimed at defining, implementing, operating, and improving information security.
It applies to companies of all sizes, and it comprises 93 security controls and 10 clauses that mandate that companies provide a risk treatment plan along with a list of security objectives. Moreover, the certificate means that a company has in place the required people controls, organizational controls, physical controls, and technological controls.
One of the best aspects of being ISO 27001 certified is that it allows companies to keep their security levels aligned with their objectives. So, companies can protect their market advantage, optimize their operations, and decrease losses from incidents while effectively managing risk.
Meanwhile, the SOC2 (System and Organization Controls) consists of a number of reports produced by an audit carried out by an independent CPA or accountancy organization. As part of the audit, companies have to provide evidence of their conformity with various information security controls.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants defines the content of these reports, which are typically used to assess American companies. It is worth noting that SOC2 validates companies’ internal controls pertaining to information systems involved in provided services based on Trust Service Criteria (TSC), which are five semi-overlapping categories. They are:
- Security
- Availability
- Processing integrity
- Confidentiality
- Privacy
Essentially, these controls ensure that:
- Information and systems are protected against risks
- Are available when required
- The system processing provides reliable information
- Only authorized personnel can access information
- Personal information is securely managed
Usually, a SOC2 report for a company covers details, including a detailed description of the service/ system audited, the controls put in place, the effectiveness of these controls as per the Trust Service Criteria, the author’s report summarizing the tests and results, and confirmation from the management that the systems related to provided services are fairly described in the report.
A SOC2 audit report can be of two types. The first type includes a description of the services’ systems and demonstrates whether the proposed controls support the organization’s objectives. Type 2 is also quite similar, but it includes whether the controls operate as expected over a while.
Communication compliance in a world of SOC2 and ISO 27001
The issue is not SOC 2 vs ISO 27001 because the former is an audit report and the latter is an international standard to establish a potent Information Security Management System. Companies can view the SOC2 reports as one of the major outputs of the implementation of an ISO 27001-compliant Information Security Management System.
While the ISO 27001 certification is not mandatory for companies to create a SOC 2 report, it is still a convenient way to prepare this report without much additional cost or effort.
Taking this step will go a long way in bolstering customer confidence in your company’s ability to protect its data.
Conclusion
Every sector has unique regulations that guarantee operational transparency and demonstrate companies’ data security controls and genuineness to customers. This is especially true for companies handling large volumes of sensitive customer information. To be in compliance with all these regulations and ensure your company doesn’t draw the attention of regulators in the US and beyond, you need to invest in a compliance officer to ensure communication compliance. Another essential aspect of running a compliant company that is in the good books of regulators and consumers is certification, such as ISO and SOC2.
Alongside protecting data, companies also need an archiving solution to store, maintain, and retrieve their data in a searchable format for purposes, such as demonstrating compliance, internal investigations, and e-discovery. TeleMessage is one of the few archiving solutions that process all messaging and mobile archiving routing in SOC-certified private co-locations datacenters. With the solution at your disposal, you can safely archive conversations across WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, and text messages in compliance with ISO and SOC requirements.
Get in touch with the team to know more.
About TeleMessage
TeleMessage captures and retains mobile content, including mobile SMS messages, voice calls, WhatsApp, and WeChat conversations from corporate or BYOD mobile phones to ensure compliance with various data protection regulations. The messages are securely and reliably retained within TeleMessage servers or forwarded to your choice of archiving data storage vendor.
Our mobile archiving products securely record content from mobile carriers and mobile devices for various ownership models (BYOD, CYOD, and employer-issued). With our multiple archiving solutions, you can always find the right tools or blend for your requirements:
- Network Archiver
- Enterprise Number Archiver
- Android Archiver
- WhatsApp Archiver
- WeChat Archiver
- Signal Archiver
- Telegram Archiver
TeleMessage offers cross-carrier and international mobile text & call archiving for corporate and BYOD phones. Visit our website at www.telemessage.com to learn more about our mobile archiving products.
