Survey Data: Security and Protection - It should matter to you
Posted by Dean Wiltse on Thu, Oct 25, 2007
With the recent string of high-profile data losses, companies are focusing on securing and protecting their IT infrastructure and customer data. A loss of data results in the obvious costs associated with the investigation and eventual remediation to close the gaps identified in the perimeter. But the bigger and costlier result of such breaches is the loss of customer trust.
Is survey data any less important than your other data sources? Surveys provide an important tool for asking your customers, employees and prospects important questions. Depending on the nature of the survey, the responses result in detailed profiles that include information such as:
- Opinions
- Preferences
- Buying habits
- Demographics
- Contact information
Customers provide you this data based on their trust that it will be used appropriately and handled securely. Loss of this data represents a breach of this trust and at a minimum will greatly affect your ability to gain feedback in the future. Of course, worst case scenarios can include a negative impact on stock price, lawsuits, and lost customers.
Low-cost survey software - How do they treat your data? There are many survey solutions on the market, some at very low costs. However, choosing a low-cost survey solution could mean that your data is stored on an unprotected server that would be an easy target for a hacker. There are also questions of data integrity and protection from damage or loss. Your data could be stolen in minutes, or destroyed by a hardware failure. You don't want that kind of monkey on your back.
Protect your survey results. We have been working for years to protect our customer's survey data because we understand the value of their survey results. Low-end survey providers don't provide the proper environment to protect your survey investment. Here at Vovici, we host your survey data in our SAS70 approved hosting environment.
Our survey hosting environment has been designed with security as a foremost consideration, with features such as 128 bit SSL encryption and redundant firewalls. Physical considerations have also been made in our data centers with 24/7 monitoring and protection, uninterrupted power supplies, fire-suppression and detection, redundant cooling systems and sophisticated data backup procedures. While our security polices have satisfied the most stringent of financial institutions, we are also constantly monitoring and making improvements.
Your survey participants are entrusting their responses and data to you and you can't take that responsibility lightly. You need to make sure that whatever online survey solution provider you use values data security as much as you do.