GOOD FENCES By Bob Johnson
As i-SIGMA prepares to release the second printing of the Information Disposition textbook, while at the same time commissioning the creation of a new contract that is compliant globally, the IG Journal asked the author to revisit the issue of service provider contracts.
Some people have the luxury of relying on someone’s word. Others say a handshake is good enough. Nevertheless, as stated in the first edition of Information Disposition, there is no acceptable excuse for any customer not having a contract with a third-party with which the customer is sharing the personally identifiable information (PII) of others. Since first written in 2016, this imperative for a customer to have a contract with their data-related service provider has become even clearer. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the host of harmonization laws in the pipeline leave no wiggle room. For a customer to turn over PII to a service provider without a contract in place is becoming more than simple negligence; it is often illegal. We remind readers that this is not legal advice but rather an attempt to articulate relevant issues. Obtaining appropriate legal counsel is always prudent and advisable. It is worth noting that i-SIGMA awaits a universally-applicable, data-related service provider contract this spring. As a result, it is on our minds, and we hope on yours too.
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iG Journal 2019 Issue 1
