Privacy Compliance: The Role of Digital Identity

Driven by stringent global privacy regulations, consumer privacy and security are top of mind for technology executives. Compliance with these regulations requires organizations to think through their approach to collecting, securing, managing access to, and deleting customer data. Data privacy regulations have proliferated beginning with the European Union’s game-changing privacy regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and continuing as governments around the world, including Brazil, South Africa and India have enacted data privacy laws of their own. Closer to home, 18 U.S. states have implemented their own consumer privacy laws such as the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), with 18 other U.S. states currently considering regulations of their own. Considering the constantly evolving regulatory landscape, organizations are facing increasing pressure to adapt their data protection strategies.

Clients often ask, “How can we prepare for an evolving regulatory landscape?” or “How do we align our privacy operations in the EU, U.S. and Brazil?” as they seek solutions that can keep pace with growing compliance needs. A successful approach to data privacy focuses on three pillars:

• Privacy obligations
• Individual rights
• Legal roles and recourse with core requirements essential for comprehensive privacy protection.

Many of these requirements rely on efficient digital identity management; however, legacy data protection processes often lack the strategic controls needed to handle privacy through an identity management lens. At the intersection of privacy and digital identity, organizations are shifting from tactical to strategic solutions, recognizing that a piecemeal approach is costly, complex and unsustainable.

Addressing cross-functional privacy challenges

Strong data governance is difficult to achieve when business processes remain siloed within departments, which can lead to compliance challenges. By implementing comprehensive identity management solutions, such as SailPoint, organizations can enhance visibility and control over identity attributes, structured and unstructured sensitive data, and processes across departments, bridging privacy gaps and strengthening governance.

Typical challenges that advanced identity management solutions help mitigate include:

• Right-size access: Determining and restricting who should have access to data is often manual and reactive. Identity technologies can support proactive data classification and access restrictions based on predefined policies and AI-driven recommendations to further restrict access to customer data to only approved parties.
• Manual privacy processes: Tasks like system discovery and request fulfillment can be slow and error-prone when handled manually. Automation ensures consistency, accelerates processing and reduces risk.
• Uncertainty in DSAR responses: Manual data linking across multiple systems makes it challenging to ensure that Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) are complete and accurate. Centralized processes provide reliable and accurate DSAR handling.
• Adaptability to regulatory compliance: Flexible architecture allows organizations to adapt quickly to new regulations by building on existing compliance tools and frameworks. Real-time visibility in access allows organizations to understand data types and who can access allowing for faster adjustments as regulations change.

A successful use case

Privacy regulations and related identity controls are relevant to enterprises in many industry verticals including financial services, healthcare, consumer products and services, and telecommunications. One Protiviti client, a global e-commerce retailer, faced challenges in navigating complex privacy regulations, including both the GDPR and CCPA. Protiviti conducted comprehensive assessments to identify gaps in the retailer’s data protection strategies and implemented integrated identity management solutions using SailPoint, which enabled the client to address critical challenges related to identity governance and privacy management.

For this client, SailPoint provided centralized visibility into user identities and access rights across systems, eliminating inefficiencies caused by fragmented processes. The solution also automated workflows, replacing manual, error-prone tasks like provisioning, deprovisioning and access certification, ensuring consistency and reducing administrative burdens. The platform’s role-based access controls enhanced security and compliance by enforcing least-privilege principles and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data. Additionally, SailPoint’s integration capabilities allowed the retailer to streamline DSAR handling, enabling accurate and timely responses to regulatory requirements while improving overall governance. With this tool in place, the client improved operational efficiency, ensured compliance with evolving regulations and strengthened trust in their privacy practices.

Building trust with digital identity

A privacy-first approach to digital identity enables robust identity verification that aligns with privacy expectations, essential for regulatory compliance. Establishing a verified identity system fosters trust, a core component of effective privacy practices. Identity management solutions support trusted interactions across enterprise systems, facilitating secure and verified consumer engagement.

As privacy increasingly becomes a key enterprise function, the need for scalable identity management solutions becomes clear. Key elements of a modern privacy strategy include:

• Future-proof privacy compliance: Flexible identity solutions allow organizations to adapt to new privacy regulations without overhauling existing processes.
• Enhanced user control: With self-service capabilities, consumers can manage their privacy settings directly, reducing the administrative burden on business units and respecting consumer privacy rights.
• Privacy by design: Identity management tools support the creation of privacy-centric architectures that are sustainable and aligned with global regulations.

As privacy requirements continue to shape the technology landscape, adopting an identity-first approach ensures that organizations not only meet current regulations but are prepared for a future where privacy by design is a standard practice.

Pierce Chakraborty, Managing Director – Security and Privacy, also contributed to this blog.

To learn more about our data privacy consulting solutions, contact us.