A Warning To Companies About Breach Notification

It’s become common wisdom – gleaned in part from witnessing some disastrous missteps by companies like Yahoo and credit reporting company Equifax – that after a data breach it’s essential to notify potentially affected customers without delay, both from a strictly monetary and from a public-relations viewpoint. What’s easily overlooked, however, is that notification itself will be a major challenge and strain on company resources. The problem is discussed in a post by the Head of Breach Response at another credit reporting agency, Experian, and he sounds a warning; Along with doing its notification, a company will need to augment its customer service response capacity dramatically, either with technological solutions, like live chats and “microsites,” or with increased numbers of trained people, and almost certainly both. For many companies the need to accommodate  inquiries in multiple languages will complicate the task. “The ability to respond to customer concerns,” the author writes, “can be where the impact of a data breach is felt most.”