Internal Auditing in the Era of Data Privacy

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act recently passed by the Indian Parliament intends to regulate the privacy landscape of businesses by safeguarding individual privacy rights and promoting responsible data management practices. The compliance of the DPDPA across various functions can be intricate transformation for organisations, involving the evaluation and development of capabilities (tools and technologies), processes, policies, etc., or enhancement of existing ones.

As the organisations that process personal data are expected to demonstrate accountability over the personal data processing, internal audit procedures are expected to include data privacy regulatory requirements. Beyond ensuring compliance to the Act, Internal Auditors play a critical role in identifying the risks in the data protection lifecycle and designing the best approach to manage the risks, before they crystallize into non-compliance. The compliance journey encompasses understanding of the privacy controls of the Act, collaboration with stakeholders in the data lifecycle and drive a proactive audit approach towards conformity.