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Information security and data protection within a company are closely tied to GDPR, the European regulation that governs this area. Knowing the keys to efficiently carry out this process is essential for improving information protection in business management.
The possibility of data leaks during testing environments is always a threat. While some leaks occur due to cyberattacks, most are the result of human errors that inadvertently lead to information being exposed to third parties.
This situation poses a significant risk for companies, as once a customer shares their data, the company becomes fully responsible for it, meaning any data breach carries legal consequences. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is responsible for safeguarding sensitive data.
Even large companies like Facebook have suffered data breaches. The social media giant experienced a major breach when the data of 500 million registered accounts were exposed, resulting in a significant crisis due to the nature of the data involved: names, addresses, birth dates, emails, and more.
Such information is considered sensitive data, meaning it pertains to a person’s private details. This type of data is particularly at risk when used for testing or simulations of new software. Although it’s not recommended, using real data for testing still happens frequently.
Handling sensitive information requires a great commitment to users and compliance with regulations governing data usage. GDPR mandates data dissociation as a key measure to ensure information security and data protection.
Data dissociation involves taking a database—used in testing environments—and anonymizing or pseudonymizing the data. This strategy prevents associating a user’s identity with their specific data, effectively mitigating the risk that sensitive information could harm the user if it falls into the wrong hands.
Of course, dissociating data can be a massive task, especially when dealing with databases containing hundreds, thousands, or even millions of records. Therefore, it’s not a process that should be done manually but instead, should leverage technology capable of automating the task.
As mentioned, automating data dissociation is the best approach when performing software tests. It’s essential to understand the benefits that automation brings.
First, it enables substantial savings across various company areas. For instance, there’s no need for human resources to spend time manually dissociating data, which also translates into significant cost savings.
Furthermore, automating this process ensures information security and data protection by reducing human errors, which are often the most common causes of data breaches.
For those seeking software to automate testing, Icaria TDM is the perfect solution. This tool not only dissociates user information but also provides valuable data that is extremely useful for testing and simulating software. The data is rich, relevant, maintains referential integrity, and appears real—despite being fictitious.
One of the key features of Icaria TDM is its compliance with GDPR from the very first moment of automation. This is crucial, as it helps avoid any potential infractions regarding information security and data protection.
Without a doubt, Icaria TDM is the best choice for effective information management, enabling safe and secure testing.
Want to improve information security and data protection in your software tests? Talk to our team today and start enhancing the quality of your test data management software.
