Digital customer interactions and law: what role do laws and regulations play in the interaction with your customer?

When as an organization you interact with your customer digitally, you quickly have to deal with international laws and regulations. Caroline Baurichter, Legal & Compliance Officer at Dialog Group, explains the impact of current legislation and regulations on the offering and use of software that enables digital customer interactions.

Desire for more transparency about data processes

Caroline: 'There are several developments at the intersection of digital customer interaction and law. Governments and companies increasingly demand more transparency about data processes within organizations. This need continues to grow and the laws and regulations surrounding it are constantly changing.

At Dialog Group we closely monitor legal developments. We include the most recent legislation and regulations in our contracts, agreements and general terms and conditions. For example, the GDPR plays a role in this. In addition, the impact of cloudification is becoming increasingly important, where data is processed and/or stored via external partners. Consider, for example, Amazon or Microsoft.'

'Our customers expect us to have our security in order. And we expect that from our software suppliers.'

Data protection and our software suppliers
'With the introduction of GDPR in 2018, data privacy has become a current topic for organizations. The GDPR imposes strict requirements and conditions on the use and processing of personal data. Although we as Dialog Group do not in principle process personal data for our customers, we consider this an important topic. Our customers expect us to have our security in order. And we expect that from our software suppliers. We provide solutions with software that enables digital customer interactions. Because we set up this software for our customers - after which our customers' employees start working with it themselves - there is no data processing on our part. If it is necessary for us to view data to optimize the system, we can only do this anonymously. This also applies to our software suppliers. The data remains, as it were, in the source systems of our customers and therefore within the organization, which in turn has received permission from the end customer.'

More complex supply chain processes

'In recent years we have seen increasing complexity in supply chain processes where multiple software suppliers and organizations work together on a central ICT solution or service. It is important for our customers that it is recorded which solution is offered, which parties are involved and how information security is ultimately arranged. Consider, for example, the locations where data from our customers and the end customer is processed and who may have access to it. Developments surrounding SaaS and Managed Services mean that this requires specific knowledge and attention.'

ISAE 3000 certification for transparent processes

'We make our processes transparent and that is partly why we are now ISAE 3000 type 1 certified. ISAE stands for International Standard on Assurance Engagements and is an audit standard for reporting on the control of processes that have been outsourced. The certificate is seen as the international successor to the American SOC 2 certification. ISEA 3000 pays attention to the web trust principles, or the organization in the areas of availability, confidentiality, security, integrity and/or privacy sensitivity of data and information. This certificate is important to us because it demonstrates and guarantees the quality of our outsourced processes and therefore the quality of our services.'

Security and compliance requirements

'Fortunately, organizations are well aware of the risks in the field of security and compliance and have usually adjusted their purchasing conditions and contracts accordingly. In the contracts we conclude, we ensure that it is clearly stated which security and compliance requirements of the customer apply to our solutions and services. And what we as contract holder are responsible for. An important task that I work on every day within Dialog Group.'

Caroline Baurichter

Caroline is responsible for the GDPR processes, certifications, purchasing contracts and agreements within Dialog Group. As a legal professional, she has experience in healthcare, insurance, real estate and professional services. She lives in Zeist with her husband and two children. In her spare time she enjoys taking long walks, trying out new recipes with her cooking club and doing pilates.

* The translations on this website are provided by G-Translate from Dutch