Enhancing Data Security with Automated Workflow Software

Today’s digital landscape provides an unprecedented opportunity for companies to leverage data into insights and business success, but this opportunity is a double-edged sword. That very same data creates both security risks and compliance burdens that add to the complexity of doing business.

Commercial and in-plant printers serving enterprise customers and those in data-regulated fields must grapple with another layer of data security: the protected information being printed and mailed to customers.

Automated workflow software is one piece of the compliance puzzle: reducing human touchpoints lessens the risk of data exposure or theft, and audit capabilities (even down to the individual piece level) allow businesses to demonstrate compliance with confidence.

This blog post shows you:

• Why data security and compliance are vital for today’s businesses
• Key features and security measures built into RICOH ProcessDirector™
• Tips for leveraging automated workflow software to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations

Let’s get started by exploring the stakes.

Understanding the Importance of Data Security and Compliance

For any business that handles customer data, the risks of a data breach are numerous.

Loss of Customer Trust

Loss of customer trust is a big one: whether those customers are yours directly or they belong to the businesses you serve, the results are the same. When trust dries up, so do contracts and revenue.

Damage to Organizational Reputation

Organizational reputation is another risk. When you, the printer, are responsible for a data leak or mishandling of data, you risk damage to your own reputation as a vendor (or internal department. But you also risk the reputation of the companies you service.

How do we know? Everyone remembers the infamous Target breach as, well, the Target breach. No one calls it the “small Pennsylvania HVAC company that had bad infosec policies and ultimately compromised Target” breach.

While Target certainly carries some of the blame in that fiasco (those backend systems weren’t very secure), the HVAC company did direct and irreparable damage to Target’s reputation.

The point here isn’t Target or that poor little HVAC company; it’s that there’s the potential for a cascade of reputational damage up and down the vendor/supplier chain.

Compliance Violations and Fines

Third and perhaps most worrisome are the potential financial and bureaucratic impacts of compliance violations. Some of these are unique to print, where the mishandling of protected customer information could result in physical distribution of that information.

Data privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA set strict standards for how organizations must protect data, and significant fines can be imposed for violating these regulations.

One large life insurance company experienced a pair of printing errors along with a single internet-based breach that led to around $20.5 million in penalties and settlements. These were seemingly small mistakes affecting relatively small populations—protected information could be seen through the envelope window for 12,000 and 5,000 people, respectively. Yet the fine was in the eight figures!

Commercial printers themselves can also be on the hook for similar fines. Two commercial printers serving a healthcare entity were fined $130k for a simple printing mistake that went out to around 50,000 patients.

Key Security Features and Measures in RICOH ProcessDirector

RICOH ProcessDirector helps organizations maintain the integrity and confidentiality of their data in several key ways. The secure storage and transmission capabilities keep your (and your customers’ data) safe from receipt to delivery, even as ProcessDirector tracks those documents along the workflow.

Down to the level of individual physical pieces, ProcessDirector can verify that every piece is produced accurately (and without misplaced data as in the previous examples) using either network-capable inserters or barcode scanners. ProcessDirector can also automate reprints of any pieces it finds missing or damaged.

The end result: achieving 100% output integrity is finally possible.

Ensuring Compliance with Data Privacy Regulations

Depending on the industries you serve and the geographical footprint of your or your clients’ organizations, some or all of your print jobs may be subject to regulatory compliance under specific data privacy regulations, such as GDPR, CCPA, or HIPAA.

We’re software professionals, not lawyers (and you should certainly consult yours if making decisions related to data privacy), but here’s a brief overview of these three major sources of compliance concerns:

• GDPR is EU legislation that can apply to any identifiable, living person in the EU. Businesses that sell to or serve such persons may be subject to GDPR.
• The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) is similar legislation covering identifiable, living persons in the state of California. Given the state’s economic weight within the US, nearly any company operating in the US and collecting personal information must consider CCPA guidelines.
• HIPAA governs how businesses must handle and protect sensitive patient health information (often termed personally identifiable information, or PII). Any organization connected to health or medicine must maintain compliance.

RICOH ProcessDirector aids businesses with print operations to stay compliant and prove that compliance with audit trails down to the individual piece level. Our data retention policies are in compliance with all major regulations, and our consent management functionality helps you maintain compliance as well.

Beyond these specific features, our automated workflow software and secure workflow solutions help to ensure data security by reducing human touchpoints. By reducing the number of people who need to touch the data, you’ll reduce the likelihood of human error or negligence creating a regulatory compliance violation.

Enhance Your Data Security and Automate Workflows with RICOH ProcessDirector

In today’s competitive and data-driven business landscape, data security has never been more vital to continued business success and growth. This is true regarding actual data security as well as demonstrating regulatory compliance to any and all relevant sets of data privacy regulations.

RICOH ProcessDirector is automated workflow software that helps you do both—and much more. ProcessDirector helps you enhance and demonstrate your data security through powerful piece-level audit capabilities, secure storage and transmission, and consent management. You’ll also trim time and resource burdens from your print workflows as you automate inefficient manual processes.

Learn how Ricoh's automated workflow software can enhance your data security and compliance today! ->