Do Businesses Need to Report Data Breaches?

Reporting data breaches is neccessary in most countries, especially if personal data is involved, but there are different requirements based on location and the specific situation.

The process typically involves informing both the regulatory authorities as well as any affected individuals, and there are normally requirements regarding how soon a breach needs to be reported.

In fact, there are consequences for not reporting data breaches, including financial fines and sometimes even legal repercussions.

The Laws Surrounding Data Breaches

In the United Kingdom and European Union, businesses need to adhere to the rules set out under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In the case of a personal data breach, businesses need to report the breach to the relevant supervisory authority. The authority in question depends on where you’re based. In the UK, it’s the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and in Europe, it’s the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).

Incidents need to be reported to the ICO or EDPS within 72 hours of the company becoming aware of the breach, and the business also needs to notify any individuals whose private data has been made vulnerable.

In the United States, however, the process is quite different and can be significantly more complicated due to federal regulations. In some cases, breaches need to be reported to both national and state authorities according to very specific laws, so if you’re based in the US, make sure you check in on your state’s laws as well as national laws regarding cybersecurity breaches.

Clearly, the laws can be quite different depending on where your company is based, so it’s essential that you are preemptively prepared so that if anything does happen, you’ll know what to do and how long you have to report a breach.

How to Know When to Report a Data Breach

When it comes to knowing if and when to report a data breach, you need to consider the type of data that’s been compromised as well as what the potential risk is to affected individuals.

If the data involves personal information – things like names, addresses, email addresses or other types of identifiers – or sensitive information – like financial data, health records or login details to private platforms – you’re going to need to report it.

Other types of data that are considered sensitive include information relating to political opinions, religious beliefs, racial/ethnic origin or health conditions. Anything pertaining to these topics represents a risk to the individuals involved, so the breach would need to be recorded.

Not only do businesses need to consider the type of data that’s been compromised, they also need to determine the type of risk – whether it’s high or low and also the nature of the risk, whether it’s physical, material or non-material.

If a breach occurs and it’s deemed low risk, that is, for instance, if encrypted data was stolen but can’t be accessed, you may need to report it to the regulatory authority but not individuals. If it’s considered high risk and the data can be accessed, both the regulatory authority and relevant individuals need to be notified.

When it comes to notifying individuals, it’s all about how immediate the risk is. If there’s potential for significant harm to be caused immediately, notification should happen straight away.

The Importance of Reporting Data Breaches

Deciding whether or not a data breach needs to be reported is all about what kind of data has been compromised and the level of risk that may be incurred.

Always ensure that you are fully aware of the regulatory requirements based on where you’re located so that if a data breach does occur, you’ll be ready to take action and function within the law.