Four Reasons to Limit Customer Data Collection in England

Your company will typically handle a significant amount of data, including your own confidential business information and the personal data of customers and clients. Limiting the data you collect is essential to avoid breaching data protection rules. Notably, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out rules on using customer data, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces them in England. It is vital to follow the rules relating to customer data collection as the ICO can issue fines to organisations that do not meet their obligations. This article will explore four key reasons to limit customer data collection in England and how your organisation can avoid ICO fines.

Compliance With the GDPR

Your business must avoid intentional breaches of data protection rules. Many of the rules relate to customer data. Some examples include your organisation: 

• only obtains customer data for lawful purposes;
• only retains customer data as long as necessary;
• handles personal customer information  fairly, lawfully and transparently; and
• avoids collecting customer data that is excessive, irrelevant or not for the stated collected purpose. 

Ultimately, you can only collect necessary customer data (for example, their postal address) and must explain why you require this information (for example, to deliver a product by post). Conversely, you may struggle to justify requiring a  customer’s national insurance number when they have only ordered a one-off purchase for postal delivery.

Less Maintenance and Cost

Your organisation must protect customer information as part of its data privacy obligations. This involves keeping sensitive data secure and ensuring storage systems are regularly maintained. 

Limiting customer data collection means you have less to maintain. Additionally, it is more economically efficient due to reduced IT equipment and server requirements. A helpful example is the use of CCTV on your premises. CCTV footage utilises a significant amount of electronic storage and electricity to function. You can significantly reduce maintenance and costs by reducing the CCTV system from four cameras to one camera.  

Less Information to Lose in a Cyber Attack

Additionally, businesses must be aware of the risk of cyber-attacks and take preventative measures to avoid data breaches. Whilst a locked door reduces the theft of physical data, cyber attacks can allow third parties to access digital information. 

Holding less customer information reduces the data lost in a successful cyber attack. This is akin to a business not storing cash on their premises overnight in case intruders break in.

Easier and Quicker to Securely Delete

Customer data is often stored in two forms: digital and physical. 

1. Physical

Retaining fewer customer records, such as printed documents, will reduce the storage costs and subsequent time and effort to destroy documents securely. 

2. Digital

Holding greater quantities of information often requires multiple storage devices and backup devices. This increases the complexity of finding data when required. Retaining minimal data makes it easier to locate and delete information.

Key Takeaways

Limiting the customer information your business stores effectively limits the impacts of data breaches, helping your business comply with the GDPR. Compliance will also ensure your business avoids ICO fines. By storing minimal customer data, your business can reduce maintenance costs and data loss in a cyber attack. Furthermore, you can quickly and efficiently delete information when required. 

If you need help with data protection requirements and safe storage of customer information, our experienced Data, Privacy and IT lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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