In an era where data breaches and privacy concerns dominate headlines, regulatory frameworks like India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP) have become indispensable. The DPDP Act safeguards the privacy of individuals by regulating how organizations operating in India can collect, process, and store personal data.
Landmark regulations like the DPDP Act are essential for enhancing data security. They hold organizations accountable for their own data privacy compliance and ensure vendors with access to such data meet the same high standards. However, this can present significant challenges for information security (InfoSec) teams, particularly those managing extensive vendor ecosystems.
To help organizations navigate this complex regulatory landscape, UpGuard has expanded its industry-leading questionnaire library and introduced a comprehensive questionnaire aligned with the provisions of the DPDP Act. This questionnaire enables security teams to effectively assess their vendors' compliance, ensuring all applicable parties meet the necessary obligations for data protection.
Learn more about UpGuard's DPDP Questionnaire.
Why is DPDP compliance important?
Ensuring compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act is crucial for any organization, vendor, or entity that processes the personal data of Indian citizens, whether based in the territory of India or abroad. The act is not only a legal requirement; compliance with it also plays a pivotal role in fostering consumer trust and confidence.
The DPDP Act mandates strict guidelines on how organizations can participate in data collection or the processing of digital personal data while emphasizing the importance of upholding the rights afforded to data subjects. Here’s an overview of some of the requirements the DPDP Act imposes on data fiduciaries (organizations processing or controlling personal data):
- Third-party obligation: Only appoint or involve third-party data processors obligated to follow DPDP procedures by a legal contract.
- Data accuracy: Ensure personal data is complete and accurate before making decisions that affect a data principal or before completing a data transfer.
- Legitimate use: Ensure personal data is only collected and used for specified purposes.
- Ongoing compliance: Implement necessary organizational measures and technical protocols to ensure ongoing compliance.
- Security safeguards: Implement reasonable security safeguards and audits to protect personal data and prevent breaches.
- Data breach notification: Notify all affected data principals and the Data Protection Board of India of any known data breaches.
- Erasure of personal data: Safely erase and destroy all personal data upon a data principal withdrawing their consent unless retention is required by law.
- Point of contact: Organizations must appoint a point of contact to respond promptly to a data subject’s requests for data correction and deletion.
- Grievance redressal: Data fiduciaries must allow individuals to report issues related to data processing activities or data principal rights.
- Data protection officer (DPO): Significant data fiduciaries must also appoint a dedicated DPO to ensure all requirements are met.
- Data protection impact assessments: Significant data fiduciaries must undertake impact assessments to evaluate security measures and reduce risk.
Related reading: An Overview of India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023
Like other major data privacy laws, non-compliance with the DPDP Act can lead to severe consequences, including hefty fines (up to 250 crore or USD 30 million), legal action, and irreparable damage to an organization's reputation. Also, in a digital age where consumers are increasingly aware of their privacy rights, data mishandling can erode customer trust and cause them to be more likely to take their business to a competitor.
For organizations that rely on third-party vendors, the importance of DPDP compliance applicability extends to ensuring that these third-party providers adhere to the same standards. Vendor non-compliance can expose your organization to a variety of risks. Ensuring your organization and vendors comply with the DPDP Act protects your business from these pitfalls while demonstrating a commitment to data privacy compliance.
How UpGuard’s DPDP Act questionnaire can help
UpGuard’s DPDP Act Questionnaire empowers InfoSec teams to ensure vendor compliance while transforming their security questionnaire process from a time-consuming chore to a streamlined operation. The questionnaire covers all critical aspects of the DPDP Act, allowing security teams to systematically evaluate whether their vendors meet the necessary data protection standards.
With UpGuard’s DPDP Act Questionnaire, you can streamline your entire vendor assessment process from start to finish. Leverage automation to accelerate assessments, manage workflows, and easily track vendor progress in one comprehensive dashboard.
Save your InfoSec team hours of valuable time by eliminating the need for manual analysis. UpGuard automatically identifies risks based on your vendor responses, providing clear evidence to help you decide whether to request remediation or waive each risk. This will strengthen your decision-making and ensure every assessment is reliable and error-free.
Additionally, you can utilize additional questionnaires in UpGuard’s industry-leading library to assess vendor compliance with other popular industry frameworks and regulations.
UpGuard’s industry-leading Questionnaire Library
The UpGuard Questionnaire Library enables users to quickly and accurately gather vendor security information during onboarding and routine assessment periods. Eliminate time-consuming, error-prone spreadsheets and quickly evaluate vendors against the most popular security frameworks and industry regulations.
All UpGuard customers also receive access to Trust Exchange, an AI-powered questionnaire product that allows security teams to reduce the time they spend on security questionnaires by up to 95%.
The UpGuard Questionnaire Library includes templates aligned to these (and other) regulations, frameworks, and known vulnerabilities:
- NIST CSF
- SIG Lite
- SIG Core
- ISO 27001
- HECVAT
- HIPAA
- CCPA
- GDPR
- PCI DSS
- Modern Slavery
- SolarWinds
- Apache Log4J
- COBIT 5
Learn more about UpGuard’s industry-leading security questionnaires.
Achieve comprehensive compliance with UpGuard
Achieving comprehensive compliance with the DPDP Act and other regulations requires more than internal diligence; it necessitates a thorough and ongoing vendor risk management (VRM) program.
UpGuard Vendor Risk offers a suite of tools and resources designed to support your compliance and cybersecurity efforts. From continuous monitoring and vulnerability scanning to automated risk assessments and remediation workflows, UpGuard provides everything you need to maintain a robust security posture. Our platform allows you to centralize your vendor assessments, track compliance over time, and quickly identify and mitigate potential risks before they become serious issues.
Furthermore, UpGuard’s user-friendly interface and expert support make integrating these tools into your existing processes easy. Whether you’re just beginning your vendor risk management journey or looking to enhance your current efforts, UpGuard provides the resources and expertise to help you succeed.
Take the next step towards comprehensive DPDP compliance and explore the full range of UpGuard’s security solutions. By leveraging our tools and expertise, you can protect your organization, maintain stakeholder trust, and ensure that you’re fully prepared to meet the demands of today’s regulatory landscape.
