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“Due to the rise in digital transformation efforts, we are seeing an explosion in the number of digital identities that each business stores. As a result, controlling and managing identity data has become that little bit harder. Unfortunately, when organisations struggle to manage their identity data, they could potentially break GDPR rules.

Organisations have been scattering their identity data across multiple sources which all use different protocols or are stored in cloud repositories which cannot connect to legacy technology. This identity sprawl results in overlapping, conflicting, or inaccessible sources of data. Identity data which is poorly managed makes it virtually impossible for IT teams to build accurate and complete user profiles.

It can also result in siloed systems which increases the likelihood of a failure in identity management and expands the attack surface of an organisation. For example, Bocconi University was fined €200,000 after the Italian Data Protection Authority discovered that the same student information had been placed into multiple, fragmented documents - violating the GDPR principles of fairness, transparency, and lawfulness when it comes to data processing. Poor identity management practices means that security teams cannot have full visibility across their identity data, providing gaps for threat actors to exploit. Organisations who do not have the right protocols in place for identity management risk breaking GDPR rules by failing to keep identity data accurate and minimised. Failure to do this could result in the double blow, because you’re now both more vulnerable to cyber criminals and you’re being hit by a massive fine from EU regulators.

Not only do businesses have a lack of visibility across their data sources, but also a lack of control. Without accurate user profiles, security teams and systems are unable to figure out what users should be accessing in order to fulfil their job. The most notorious GDPR fine was occurred by British Airways, who were fined £40m for failing to limit access to applications, data and tools. With some of the largest enterprises being found guilty of breaking GDPR rules, it is time organisations look to sanitise and streamline processes when it comes to Identity Access Management.

With an Identity Data Fabric, organisations can unify identity data stored from all sources into one easy-to-use global profile which can deliver identity data in real-time from wherever and whenever needed. Applications are then able to access identity data using different formats and protocols, irrespective if it’s on-premise or in the cloud, and users’ profiles can be regularly updated in real-time. With accurate identity data, security teams have complete control over who has access to what, and they can feel more confident that they’re meeting all the GDPR regulations”