best practices

Schakel die ontvangstbevestiging van mail alvast uit (in #Microsoft #Outlook, outlook.com, Outlook web en andere mail apps)

Deze week is er een aanpassing van het Belgische Wetboek uitgevoerd, die het eindelijk mogelijk maakt om via email kennisgeving te doen… zodat je via elektronische mail rechtsgeldige verzending zou moeten kunnen doen.
Zou…

Want het is misschien wel een grote stap vooruit in de rechtsspraak… maar waarom zou je de tegenpartij moedwillig in de kaart willen spelen?
In het ergste geval zou je dus ZELF het bewijs gaan leveren aan de tegenpartij…

Is dat nu wel een goed idee?
Ik denk het niet…

Dus zoals het artikel in de Tijd over deze wetsaanpassing al aangeeft…

 ‘Als blijkt dat u de mail gelezen heeft, door te antwoorden of via een leesbevestiging, dan is de kennisgeving sowieso geldig gebeurd.’ Het voorgaande impliceert dat e-mailgebruikers maar beter voorzichtig met leesbevestigingen omspringen. Zonder leesbevestiging of antwoord is het nog altijd aan de verzender om te bewijzen dat de ontvanger de mail wel degelijk ontvangen of gelezen heeft.

Mieke Verplancke in De Tijd – door PETER VAN MALDEGEM 
17 augustus 2022

Maar hoe schakel je die ontvangstbevestiging van mail nu uit?

Voor enkele van de meest gebruikte mail programma’s geef ik je alvast de nodige stappen mee.
Voor alle duidelijkheid, veel van die stappen vind je al op ‘t internet, dus voor enkele programma’s geef ik wat pointers naar goeie artikels… kwestie van de mail niet opnieuw uit te vinden.

Mogelijk voeg ik er later nog wat extra mail programma’s toe aan het lijstje.. maar hier kan je al mee starten. Kijk maar even of je favoriete mail client er tussen zit… En anders nog wat opties helemaal achteraan dit artikel.

Disclaimer: ik heb zelf niet altijd de Nederlandstalige versie van de gebruikersomgeving, dus sommige referenties gebruiken Engelse termen, maar je komt er zo ook wel.

Ik heb de volgende mail clients alvast opgelijst

  • Windows Mail app (Win10/11)
  • Outlook.com (web)
  • Microsoft 365 / Office 365 Outlook web
  • Microsoft 365 / Office 365 Outlook client
  • Outlook for Mobile Devices (Android)
  • Apple
  • GMail

Windows Mail app (Win 10)

Geen probleem, want er zijn geen opties in de Windows Mail app.
Dus als je opties wil, moet je een andere mail client zoeken, deze is te eenvoudig.

Outlook.com (web)

Zelf leesbevestiging vragen?

Njet, de Outlook.com web mail heeft die optie niet. (Wel via de Outlook voor Windows)

Leesbevestiging uitschakelen

Bron: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/read-receipts-in-outlook-com-dc1b74ac-8578-469f-8894-82746e8e5aef

  1. Selecteer Instellingen Instellingen > Alle Outlook-instellingen weergeven.
  2. Selecteer E-mail > berichtafhandeling.
  3. Kies onder Leesbevestigingenhoe u reageert op aanvragen voor leesbevestigingen.

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft 365 / Office 365 online web versie

Bron: https://support.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/leesbevestigingen-in-outlook-web-e09af74d-3519-45fc-a680-37a538a92157

Het scherm is gelijkaardig aan de outlook.com versie…

Leesbevestiging uitschakelen doe je zo

Settings> Mail >Message Handling > Read Receipts

Microsoft 365 / Office 365 / Outlook v2016, v2019, … mail client

Leesbevestiging vragen (voor één mail of alle mail)

Zie dit Microsoft Support Artikel : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-and-request-read-receipts-and-delivery-notifications-a34bf70a-4c2c-4461-b2a1-12e4a7a92141?WT.mc_id=ES-MVP-5002204

Leesbevestiging uitschakelen

Open je Outlook client, menu File (Bestand) > Selecteer de juiste mailbox (als je er meer dan één hebt) > Kies Options (Opties) > Mail > Tracking

Meer details alvast in deze interessante artikels (Engels)

Outlook for Mobile Devices (Android)

Bron: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/disable-read-receipts-in-outlook-for-android/eee5a248-935c-42da-9087-1487fa70b860

  1. Open Outlook Web App(OWA).
  2. Login op je mailbox (je moet onderstaande herhalen als je meerdere maiboxen hebt)
  3. Kies Settings/Instellingen (View All Settings)
  4. Kies General/Algemeen > Mobile Devices
  5. Kies Don’t send read receipts for messages read on devices that use Exchange ActiveSync.

Apple

Houd er rekening mee dat de meeste instellingen voor het lezen van e-mails zich op het niveau van de e-mailtoepassing bevinden… het hangt er dus van af welke e-mailapp u op uw apparaat gebruikt.

Maar: “Apple Is Killing Email Read Receipts With a Single Popup” (https://medium.com/big-tech/apple-is-killing-email-read-receipts-like-entirely-14da5aa7fa75)

En ook:

Gmail

Google workspace (professional/enterprise)

How do I turn off automatic read receipts for my users?https://support.google.com/googlecloud/answer/10636687

Gmail web (gratis)

Geen opties voor ontvangstbevestiging bij verzenden of ontvangen.
[Opmerking, ik heb ze alvast niet gevonden, … als ze er zijn, laat gerust iets weten.]

En nog een paar andere mail clients

Nog andere artikels

Note-to-self: CIS Software Supply Chain security guide

CIS (Center for Internet Security) has published an interesting guide on software supply chain security.

Even if you do not build software on your own, it still is useful to to pick the relevant security measures/controls as part of your information security management to protect yourself and your enterprise.

As we all learned from the log4j issue which impacted many generally used platforms, it has become very clear that you need to look beyond the first level of control (your own)…

It’s critical to manage 2nd (your suppliers) and even third level (suppliers of suppliers)

Highlights

In high level overview, the document discusses:

  1. Source code
    • Code changes
    • Repository management
    • Contribution access
    • Third party
    • Code risks
  2. Build pipelines
    • Build environment
    • Build worker
    • Pipeline instructions
  3. Dependencies
    1. Third party packages
    2. Validate packages
  4. Artifacts
    • Verification
    • Access to artifacts
    • Package registries
    • Origin traceability
  5. Deployment
    • Deployment configuration
    • Deployment environment

Supply chain guide access (need to register on CIS)

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3972 (login needed, but it’s non-commercial, limited data protection risk)

More info:

Extra references

Software impacted by Log4j, see the NCSC Github / Software inventory: https://github.com/NCSC-NL/log4shell/tree/main/software

(if necessary this post will be updated with more interesting material, when applicable)

You expect a phishing test… and then the real stuff kicks in… some quick tips to block evasion techniques

I see more and more phishing exercise fatigue kicking in at my customers…

But it’s more than ever required to be vigilant for new techniques that try to circumvent the typical URL blocking and the other protection layers you put in place.

You’re the best firewall.

What is going on?

You know, these companies that first announce a #phishing test…

which go unnoticed because they are caught by the 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫…

And a few weeks later you get the 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 from the same company.

With ridiculous worse quality than the actual test… but still its in the inbox ready to click (DON’T!).

You assume phase 2 of the phishing test…another round, right? (you think: “yeah, right, not me.”).

Because the new mail comes with ridiculous bad quality (⚠️1) than the actual test…

Nowadays you expect smart mails from these criminals…

But still it doesn’t feel OK …you start to realize that this might the real stuff…

Checking for some more phishing indicators (⚠️)

A mail with you in bcc…. (⚠️2)

Addressed to a very strange (New-Zealand) mail address (⚠️3)

with a PDF alike icon image embedded (⚠️4)

via a google drive link (⚠️5)….

SPOILER: I crippled the link mentioned in previous screenshot to avoid any accidents…

SPOILER 2: DO NOT, EVER CLICK these links…

Still, If you can’t control your curiosity, you might peek into the link via alternative methods (see later).

The display of unrelated content, with payment instructions (⚠️6), isn’t really what you would expect.

Because if you even dare to click the links you get another link (⚠️7)… and this time the browser malware detection (Smartscreen filtering) kicks in .. at last… so I’ll stop the curiosity here…

Why is this an issue?

The main issue here is: the phishing links are pointing to well-known (like Google drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox…) for hosting malware, which usually escape or bypass the malware URL detection…

Security tips

Rule nr 1: Don’t click links in unexpected mails

Curiosity kills the cat: Please withstand the urge to click the links to satisfy your curiosity….

If you don’t expect the mail, be very cautions, don’t click the links.

Control your curiosity: test the links in isolated mode

If you can’t control your curiosity, don’t ever click the links on your main computer.

But copy the link and open it

  • in a Windows sandbox
  • virtual machines or test machine… not your production machine
  • mobile device

Use Windows Sandbox

Since Windows 10 (Pro) you can use Windows Sandbox (free), that is a virtual, isolated environment. So you can test some interesting things without damaging your production host machine.

By stopping the Sandbox, the machine forgets all settings and returns to default state, pristine.

More info: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-sandbox/windows-sandbox-overview

Run a quarantined client in virtual machine

Use Microsoft Hyper-V (free) or Oracle Virtual box (free) and install a client OS in the virtual machine.
Snapshot the machine before the test, perform the test, return to snapshot to avoid any left overs of malware.

Run the link on a mobile phone

Less secure, but better than running malware on your most important machine, is running the link on a browser on your mobile device. There is lower risk of infection and less impact than loosing your primary working machine, although… be aware, there is still a small risk of infection even for smartphones…

Additional security measures

To permit some stupidity and protect against accidents, please make sure

  • to implement all the latest OS security updates, patch on a continuous basis
  • have an anti-malware and anti-virus that is updated continuously
  • keep the default OS security features enabled including local system firewall and malware detection
  • consider a paid antivirus subscription, it’s worth the money and keep it up to date every hour
  • get a mail protection against malware, tracking, phishing and ransomware (like Windows defender for 365) have regular backups (1 online and 1 offline) and test the restores
  • use cookie/tracking/advertisement blockers
  • use a DNS blackhole system to protect your network from accessing suspicious URLs (including tracking and phishing websites, advertisements, C&C Command and control malware domains, …)

You’re the best firewall

Don’t get caught.

Don’t be curious.

Suspect everything you don’t expect.

Don’t click the links.

And if you’re curious, keep it safe and secure.

Note-to-self: #DPIA for cloud – reference material (focus on #Microsoft cloud)

In interesting set of reference material, that is regularly coming back in data protection, cybersecurity and information security discussions I lately had with peers and colleagues.
May you can use it too…

Feel free to provide some feedback yourself, if you know additional pointers I should add.

You know where to find me.

Change history

2022-04-27 14:00: Added EDPB announcement to references section

Governmental DPIAs

Netherlands

2018-12-06: DPIA on Microsoft Office 2016 & 365

https://iapp.org/news/a/dutch-government-commissioned-dpia-on-microsoft-office-pro-plus/

Direct download of PDF:

Click to access DPIA+Microsoft+Office+2016+and+365+-+20191105.pdf

2022-02-22: DPIA on Microsoft Office 365

https://www.dataguidance.com/news/netherlands-dutch-government-publishes-dpia-microsoft

Press release by Dutch Government:

2022-02-21 https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/publicaties/2022/02/21/public-dpia-teams-onedrive-sharepoint-and-azure-ad

Publication of DPIA by Dutch Government

2022-02-21 : https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/publicaties/2022/02/21/public-dpia-teams-onedrive-sharepoint-and-azure-ad

Source: Beltug news https://www.beltug.be/news/7430/Dutch_government_publishes_DPIA_and_DTIA_for_Microsoft/

2022-02: The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security requested an analysis of US legislation in relation to the GDPR and Schrems II by GreenburgTraurig.

Switzerland

In a recent article (In French) by ICT journal, the Canton of Zurich published a

https://www.ictjournal.ch/articles/2022-04-26/comment-le-canton-de-zurich-a-estime-le-risque-de-passer-sur-le-cloud-de

Research

Researchgate

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for Cloud-Based Health Organizations

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349882283_Data_Protection_Impact_Assessment_DPIA_for_Cloud-Based_Health_Organizations

Guidelines

CNIL

https://www.cnil.fr/en/tag/Privacy+Impact+Assessment+(PIA)

https://www.cnil.fr/en/guidelines-dpia

IAPP

https://iapp.org/news/a/guidance-for-a-cloud-migration-privacy-impact-assessment/

Templates

IAPP

https://iapp.org/resources/article/transfer-impact-assessment-templates/

Referring to:

IAPP Templates

Supplier references

Microsoft

Data Protection Impact Assessment for the GDPR

2021-11-17: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/gdpr-data-protection-impact-assessments

Data Protection Impact Assessments: Guidance for Data Controllers Using Microsoft Professional Services

Part 1: Determining whether a DPIA is needed

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/gdpr-dpia-prof-services?view=o365-worldwide#part-1–determining-whether-a-dpia-is-needed

Part 2: Contents of a DPIA

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/gdpr-dpia-prof-services?view=o365-worldwide#part-2-contents-of-a-dpia

Download Customizable DPIA document

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=102398

(more to come, this article will be updated with additional references when necessary)

Other relevant references

EDPB (European Data Protection Board)

Launch of coordinated enforcement on use of cloud by public sector

https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2022/launch-coordinated-enforcement-use-cloud-public-sector_en

Note-to-self: free download of interesting guides for SME from DigitalSME.eu

Jean-Luc Allard pointed out to a #free#download of interesting guides for #SME on implementing the #informationsecurity basics we all need:

Freshly published: Essential controls for SMEs to protect user’s #privacy and data and ensure #GDPR compliance (based on new #ISO27002)
https://lnkd.in/epridtnY

Direct download of PDF: https://lnkd.in/en8rVMBY

And also: The #ISO27001 standard made easy for SMEs:
https://lnkd.in/eiaBbdmp
Direct PDF access: https://lnkd.in/eFR2yjp

And there is more on the website of European DIGITAL SME Alliance (website: https://www.digitalsme.eu/)

#smebusiness#smesupport#smallbusiness

Data Compliance: Get it right the first time

Below is a short overview of the #Hexnode webinar, presented 2022-04-07 about data compliance.

The webinar recording is published at the Hexnode website (and embedded below).
And the PDF version of the slide deck is published in full color and B/W print version on Slideshare, see links below.

PPT version available on request (send me a DM on LinkedIN).

Data is the new oil…

Whatever business you run…

.. it won’t run without data:

  • Business data
  • Management data
  • HR data
  • Technical data
  • Network data
  • Personal data (PII)
  • Communications
  • Mail data 
  • Financial data
  • Operational data
  • Intelligence
  • Intellectual Property (IP)
  • Ideas
  • …

Other businesses want your data as well…

There is a massive growth of digital business:

  • Direct marketing
  • Data brokers
  • Data Intelligence
  • Data analytics
  • Big data
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Machine learning
  • Health care, research & development
  • …

But also… the dark side wants your data.

And your data in the wrong hands.. is explosive.

Current state of crime

Company and user data, and personal data is an important target and leverage in cybercrime lik

  • Phishing
  • Ransomware
    • not only encryption
    • data leak extortion
  • Reconnaissance & Hacking
  • Data breaches 
  • Biometric data
  • Digital & Economical war
  • …

Now the question is… How do YOU get in control?

You can’t simply lock up your data… because data needs to flow. (You want to use it…)

Data management essentials to get grip

Ask yourself: how much €$ can you spend to protect your data? To answer that question, you’ll need to get grip of some basic data management principles, in relation to security:

  1. You can only protect what you know you have
  2. Without an owner there is no protection
  3. Nothing is stable, everything has a lifecycle
Data lifecycle

Data lifecycle

The start of the cycle is mostly

  • short,
  • easy to manage,
  • low security risk. (if the creation fails… you have no data to keep under control)

The end of the cycle is mostly

  • long, (there are various reasons why you need to keep the data for a while, eg in archive before you dispose of it..)
  • difficult to manage (if the process fails, it’s difficult to track or keep under control)
  • high security risk. (risk of losing ownership, risk of leakages, …)

What is risk?

Assets have

Vulnerabilities (weaknesses/properties) 

that can be exploited by 

Threats (activities)

with impact ($$ cost).

You need to balance the protection against the impact. You don’t want to over-spend or under-protect.

Your boss (or insurance, of CFO ) needs a budget, spreading cost over a year, or 2..3..4..5.

[Risk management is calculating impact over the rate of occurrence/frequency…]

How to get started

Know the external context

  • International regulations (GDPR, …)
  • National regulations (SOC, …)
  • Sector regulations (PCI-DSS, ..)
  • Contractual obligations
  • Enterprise vs PII/personal data requirements

Know the internal context

  • Know your business (what)
  • Know your organization (organigram)
  • Make an inventory of processes and interfaces
  • Assign business ownership
    • For each process
    • For each asset

Know the processes

  • Know the data flow 
  • Know your sources (IN)
  • Know the data processing
  • Know your receivers (OUT)

Know the data in the processes

  • Categorize your data – data types
    • Enterprise data
    • PII / Personal data (GDPR !)
    • Other ?

Categorization (define data classes)

  • Sensitivity = linked to business impact
  • Ask the owner : “What if data is …”
    • unavailable, 
    • changed,
    • destroyed,
    • leaked,
    • accessed unauthorized, illegally, unlawfully,
    • …
  • Categorize your data sensitivity
    • Enterprise data, for example
    • Unclassified, Official, Restricted, Confidential, Secret, Top Secret (NATO) 
    • Public, Company internal, Confidential, Strictly confidential  
    • TLP RED, TLP Amber, TLB Green, TLP White (public)

Classification (apply the labels)

  • Responsibility of owner
  • Label all data
  • Label containers if you can’t label the data
    • Folder or File share
    • Database
    • mailbox 
    •  …

Mind the lifecycle

  • Get started
  • Keep going
  • Start over again
  • Think about security when
    • creating new processes
    • changing processes
    • removing processes
    • recheck on a regular schedule (even when nothing changes)

Mind the business and legal requirements

  • Accountability & Responsibility 
  • Reporting & audit requirements (SOC I-II, …)
  • Incident management requirements
  • Data breach requirements (GDPR)
  • Subject rights 
  • …

Consequences of data management failure

  • Financial loss
  • Business loss
  • Reputation loss 
  • Contract SLA violation
  • Regulatory violations
  • Fines
  • Prosecution
  • Personal accountability
  • …

Think about

  • Direct and indirect impact
  • Short term and long term impact
  • How long can you survive a total breakdown?

TAKEAWAYS

  • Manage enterprise data like personal data
  • Keep the categories simple (<7)
  • 3 TLP (Red–Amber–Green) + 2 categories (public + highly critical)
  • Define and maintain ownership
  • Involve everyone
  • Evangelize internal & external stakeholders (incl. customers…)
  • Lead by example

Use business best practices

  • Use standards and frameworks
  • ISO (international)
  • NIST (US)
  • ENISA (EU)
  • COBIT (ISACA)
  • …

Classification and labeling

  • Force labeling
  • Aim to classify everything
  • Start with new data first
  • Update labels when you change documents
  • Set a default label for archived data that doesn’t change
  • DO NOT set “public” as default

Think about the support processes

  • Incident management (ISO 27035 & NIST)
  • Data breach management (GDPR & other …)
  • Business continuity (ISO22301)
  • Disaster recovery

Questions

How to identify regulations you should follow?

  • know and analyse the services you’re offering,
  • where is your data stored?
  • what kind of data you have (enterprise data, personal data, financial, …)
  • identify the local, national, regional, international regulations of sector legislations that apply to your business (check partners/competition, sector representatives, …)
  • …

Is there difference in regulation for small or large business?

  • very limited impact of size of company…
  • very likely some impact on financial and tax reporting,
  • some legislation only apply in large scale operations (eg GDPR only requires a DPO for certain type of operations, …)

Best place to start for SME/SMB?

Webinar recording by Hexnode

Hexnode webinar
https://www.hexnode.com/events/webinars/data-compliance-get-it-right-the-first-time/

Presentations

Full color

Black/White print

#ICYMI, check these online fully accessible + freely downloadable ISO standards, relevant for information security, privacy & data protection

#ICYMI, In case you missed it.

Online freely accessible ISO standards

In the midst of the #COVID19 corona pandemic, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has unlocked free reading access to a bunch of relevant standards, including

  • ISO 22301:2019, Security and resilience – Business continuity management systems –Requirements
  • ISO 22316:2017, Security and resilience – Organizational resilience – Principles and attributes
  • ISO 22320:2018, Security and resilience – Emergency management – Guidelines for incident management
  • ISO 31000:2018, Risk management – Guidelines
  • ISO 13485:2016, Medical devices — Quality management systems – Requirements for regulatory purposes

The general access page with all online, fully accessible standards can be found here: https://www.iso.org/covid19.

Important note:

  • these standards are available online, but not downloadable (for legitimate downloads you need to purchase your copy in the ISO shop or with your national standards organisation)
  • there is no guarantee for continued free access once the Covid pandemic is over, if ever. That’s the sole discretion of the ISO, of course.

Freely downloadable ISO standards

Next to the (temporary) free online access, there is also a set of standards you can download for free, no payment required.
See here: https://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/

Short url to bookmark: https://ffwd2.me/FreeISO.

Check the interesting ISO standards (from the information security point of view) below

ISO27000 (Information security)

The ISO27001 vocabulary

ISO/IEC 27000:2018
EN – FR		5thInformation technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems — Overview and vocabularyISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27

Privacy Framework (ISO29100)

ISO/IEC 29100:2011
EN – FR		1stInformation technology — Security techniques — Privacy frameworkISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27

Cloud Computing Reference architecture

SO/IEC 17788:2014
EN		1stInformation technology — Cloud computing — Overview and vocabularyISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38
ISO/IEC 17789:2014
EN		1stInformation technology — Cloud computing — Reference architectureISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38

Cloud computing vocabulary

ISO/IEC 22123-1:2021
EN		1stInformation technology — Cloud computing — Part 1: VocabularyISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38

Cloud computing policy development

ISO/IEC TR 22678:2019
EN		1stInformation technology — Cloud computing — Guidance for policy developmentISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38

Cloud Computing SLAs

ISO/IEC 19086-1:2016
EN		1stInformation technology — Cloud computing — Service level agreement (SLA) framework — Part 1: Overview and conceptsISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38
ISO/IEC 19086-2:2018
EN		1stCloud computing — Service level agreement (SLA) framework — Part 2: Metric modelISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38

Common Criteria (ISO 15408)

ISO/IEC 15408-1:2009
EN – FR		3rdInformation technology — Security techniques — Evaluation criteria for IT security — Part 1: Introduction and general modelISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27
ISO/IEC 15408-2:2008
EN – FR		3rdInformation technology — Security techniques — Evaluation criteria for IT security — Part 2: Security functional componentsISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27
ISO/IEC 15408-3:2008
EN – FR		3rdInformation technology — Security techniques — Evaluation criteria for IT security — Part 3: Security assurance componentsISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27

Identity management

ISO/IEC 24760-1:2019
EN – FR		2ndIT Security and Privacy — A framework for identity management — Part 1: Terminology and conceptsISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27

Why it’s not appropriate to ask for a copy of the identity card by default and systematically before you respond to a #GDPR data access request?

The EDPB guidelines on the data subject’s rights of access contain 60 pages of very useful instructions. This article is not elaborating all of it, but only highlights the topics relative to the use of ID card photocopies, as there has been a recent case at the Belgian Data Protection Authority strongly referring to the data access request guidelines by the European Data Protection board (EDPB).

Background

In a recent publication of a case (DOS-2020-05314), the Belgian Data protection Authority decided to classify the complaint itself without any consequences, but they explicitly confirmed that the use of a photocopy of the ID card is a very bad idea in general.

A very clear reminder that you shall not systematically request a copy of the identity card

In the motivation of the case it sets a very clear reminder that it’s considered illegal to systematically request for a copy of an identity card as a condition to respond to a GDPR data access request, in accordance with the EDPB (European Data Protection Board) guidelines on the right to access.

Why is a copy of an ID card a bad idea?

The copy of the ID card contains a lot of sensitive data like your national number, that can be abused to harm you, by stealing your identity.
Using your identity data, people can open bank accounts and credits, steal your many, empty your existing bank account, … so the impact is very personal, very real and very high when your identity is stolen.

EDPB guidelines Guidelines 01/2022 on data subject rights – Right of access

The highlights

The EDPB explains in the executive overview of their guidelines that “The right of access of data subjects is enshrined in Arti. 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It has been a part of the European data protection legal framework since its beginning and is now further developed by more specified and precise rules in Art. 15 GDPR.“

“There are no specific requirements on the format of a request. The controller should provide appropriate and user-friendly communication channels that can easily be used by the data subject.”

“The request for additional information must be proportionate to the type of data processed, the damage that could occur etc. in order to avoid excessive data collection.”

Do not excessively demand for personal data when validation of access request

In the guidelines, the EDPB says:

“65. /../ In general, the fact that the controller may request additional information to assess the data subject’s identity cannot lead to excessive demands and to the collection of personal data which are not relevant or necessary to strengthen the link between the individual and the personal data requested.”

Copy of ID card should generally not be considered an appropriate way of authentication

EDPB guideline:

“74. Taking into account the fact, that many organisations (e.g. hotels, banks, car rentals) request copies of
their clients’ ID card, it should generally not be considered an appropriate way of authentication.

Alternatively, the controller may implement a quick and effective security measure to identify a data subject who has been previously authenticated by the controller, e.g. via e-mail or text message containing confirmation links, security questions or confirmation codes.”

Information on the ID that is not necessary for confirming the identity should be hidden

EDPB guidine 75:
“In any case, information on the ID that is not necessary for confirming the identity of the data subject,
such as the access and serial-number, nationality, size, eye colour, photo and machine-readable zone,
may be blackened or hidden by the data subject before submitting it to the controller, except where
national legislation requires a full unredacted copy of the identity card (see para. 77 below).

Generally, the date of issue or expiry date, the issuing authority and the full name matching with the online
account are sufficient for the controller to verify the identity, always provided that the authenticity of
the copy and the relation to the applicant are ensured. Additional information such as the birth date
of the data subject may only be required in case the risk of mistaken identity persists, if the controller
is able to compare it with the information it already processes.“

Inform about data minimization and apply it.

EDPB guideline 76.

“To follow the principle of data minimisation

the controller should inform the data subject about the information that is not needed and

about the possibility to blacken or hide those parts of the ID document.

In such a case, if the data subject does not know how or is not able to blacken such information, it is good practice for the controller to blacken it upon receipt of the document, if this is possible for the controller, taking into account the means available to the controller in the given circumstances.”

Making the information available in a commonly used electronic form

Following EDPB guideline, paragraph 32, the controller must provide the answer in a commonly used electronic form.

“the event of a request by electronic form means, information shall be provided by electronic means
where possible and unless otherwise requested by the data subject (see Art. 12(3)). Art. 15(3), third
sentence, complements this requirement in the context of access requests by stating, that the
controller is in addition obliged to provide the answer in a commonly used electronic form, unless
otherwise requested by the data subject. Art. 15(3) presupposes, that for controllers who are able to
receive electronic requests it will be possible to provide the reply to the request in a commonly used
electronic form (e.g. in PDF). This provision refers to all the information that needs to be provided in
accordance with Art. 15(1) and (2). Therefore, if the data subject submits the request for access by
electronic means, all information must be provided in a commonly used electronic form.”

Some practical data protection life hacks

Protecting your identity card

  • keep your ID card in your pocket or wallet as much as possible.
  • do NOT hand over your identity card to any party, unless it’s a legal authority (police, … )
  • Quickly showing your ID card for validation is fine, but resist to the requests to get a copy of your card.
  • prepare to have a masked paper copy of your ID card,
    • make sure to hide all the irrelevant, sensitive information yourself
    • keep a paper copy in your wallet
  • Prepare a masked digital photo copy of your ID card, yourself.
  • mask all all the irrelevant, sensitive information on your identity card, do it yourself
    • eg, use tippex to wipe out info, but you can simply scratch tippex when an official authority needs to validate your sensitive information)
    • ‘accidental’ copies will still mask your data, and you can detect if an unauthorized party scratches your ID card

From a corporate perspective

  • Do not request copies of identity cards by default, there are many more practical means to verify identity in a secure way
  • Only authenticate ID cards, when there are no other options.
  • use electronic authentication without disclosure of sensitive data
  • use an alternative means of authentication, there are many ways to do this securely
  • do not keep a copy of any identity card, there are virtually NO reasons to keep a copy, quick validation is mostly enough
  • delete any copy of identity cards as soon as possible…

Reference information:

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Note-to-self: KopieID (to blur your ID card fotocopy)

Source:

As explained here (in Dutch) and here (Dutch), it’s a terrible ID (sorry, idea), to copy your identity card and hand over the unprotected copy to someone….

Therefore it’s highly interesting to protect the photocopy against abuse, in the ultimate case you need a photocopy of your identity card…

KopieID NL

In the Netherlands the government has provided an app for your mobile phone, to take a photo of your ID and then blur the redundant information and to add a remark / watermark to indicate the purpose limitation.

Check it out here:

They also provide an interesting video explanation:

KopieID BE

In Belgium, there is a website (without app) that does the same, see here:

References

Source articles:

Reference material from the articles:

Picture credits: Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay 

Image source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hack-fraud-card-code-computer-3671982/

Note-to-self: SOC2 mapping to ISO27001

Just in case you get into SOC2 and want to know how to map it to existing information security implementation, whatever it may be, GDPR, ISO27001, NIST, … check this page

https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/mappingsrelevanttothesocsuiteofservices.html

It includes:

These links have nice XLS format sheets, with a bidirectional comparison between the frameworks.

Info on SOC1/SOC2/SOC3

https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/sorhome.html

SOC and SOX?

“ SOC reports refer to an audit of internal controls to ensure data security, minimal waste, and shareholder confidence; SOX relates to government-issued record keeping and financial information disclosure standards law. In other words, one is about keeping information safe, and the other is about keeping corporations in check.“

https://immedis.com/blog/what-are-the-key-differences-between-soc-and-sox/

https://www.logicgate.com/blog/a-comparison-of-soc-and-sox-compliance/

Also

https://linfordco.com/blog/soc-2-security-vs-iso-27001-certification/

(braindump article, still in progress)