Privacy management software startup Osano Inc. today announced the launch of the multilevel Osano Privacy Maturity Model alongside a new Data Mapping product designed to help organizations understand where personal information is being stored, mitigate risks and grow mature privacy programs.

The company’s Privacy Program Maturity Model serves as a framework and guide for organizations to evaluate their privacy programs. Osana argues that privacy programs can be complex and difficult to maintain because of ever-changing regulations over time.

The model provides a structured method for businesses to assess their existing privacy programs by facilitating the identification of potential high-risk gaps, helps establish the priorities for progression and allows tracking of privacy maturity over time. With the model, Osano says, organizations are better equipped to foster an evolving, adaptive privacy program that aligns with their broader operational strategy and regulatory requirements.

Osano has also introduced a new Data Mapping product along with the Privacy Program Maturity Model. The Data Mapping product has been designed to address the issue wherein privacy professionals need to identify where data is stored and which systems contain personal information.

The company claims that this task presents distinctive challenges with the surge in data volume and the complexity of data sources within an organization. Failing to address these challenges can undermine trust in the business, its processes and its stakeholders.

Osano’s Data Mapping product is aimed at helping organizations navigate this complexity. The service enables users to track the personal data of their customers, users and employees visually, understand who has access to this data, and decipher the purposes of this access. Where there’s a legal requirement for organizations to know what data they have and to store only what is necessary for business purposes, Osana claims, tools such as its new Data Mapping product are crucial.

“Data mapping automation is the crucial catalyst to accelerate understanding the personal data organizations collect, use and share,” Chief Product Officer Brian Herr said ahead of the release. “These capabilities minimize manual efforts to create and, just as importantly, maintain personal data, which is key to establishing a foundation for a privacy program built on privacy-by-design.”

Image: Osano