GDPR Principles and Compliance Questions

Requirements & scope:

• Only BI/aggregated outputs in scope; no raw PII in dashboards unless explicitly justified and approved by Data Protection Officer (DPO).
• Regulatory targets: GDPR (EU), CCPA/CPRA (CA), plus regional data residency.

Controls & processes

1. Data minimization & ingestion

• Implement "deny-by-default" ETL: accept only fields required for reports. Require a documented Data Use Case (who, why, retention).
• Mask or drop direct identifiers at source where possible. Store raw PII in a sealed, access-controlled vault only when necessary.

2. Encryption

• At rest: AES-256 for databases and object stores; column-level encryption for sensitive fields.
• In transit: TLS 1.2+ for all API/db connections; VPN/PrivateLink for cross-region replication.
• Key management: centralized KMS (e.g., AWS KMS) with restricted admin roles and key rotation policy.

3. Access control & least privilege

• Role-based access (RBAC) for BI tools + attribute-based checks for row-level security (RLS).
• Principle: analysts get transformed/aggregated datasets; only a small ops group can access PII vault with just-in-time (JIT) elevated access and MFA.
• Automated provisioning via SCIM tied to HR systems; quarterly access reviews.

4. Pseudonymization & anonymization

• For aggregated views use irreversible hashing with per-environment salt or tokenization service; for small cohorts apply differential privacy noise or k-anonymity thresholds (e.g., suppress counts < 10).
• Provide options: pseudonymized IDs for tracking while preventing re-identification; fully anonymized datasets for broad reporting.

5. Consent & erasure workflows

• Source systems must carry consent/opt-out flags and a deletion token. ETL respects flags: exclude opted-out individuals and trigger pipeline to remove/avoid rehydration of PII.
• Erasure: orchestration that locates and deletes/flags PII across source, BI cache, backups; maintain async audit events until completion. Retention policies enforced automatically.

6. Audit logging & monitoring

• Immutable logs (WORM) for data access and ETL jobs, including user, query, columns accessed, timestamp, purpose. Store logs centrally with SIEM and alert on anomalous access patterns.
• BI dashboards record query-level logs; exportable reports for audits.

7. Demonstrating compliance to auditors

• Maintain an evidence pack: Data Use Case registry, Data Flow diagrams, Data Processing Agreements, consent records, retention schedules, access lists, key rotation records, audit logs, and test reports for anonymization effectiveness.
• Provide sample RLS policies, screenshots of KMS key policies, and live query logs. Run periodic tabletop exercises and produce SOC2/ISO27001, DPIA, and Data Protection Impact Assessment documents as applicable.

Example scenario:

• Executive churn dashboard uses pseudonymized user_id, suppresses cohorts <10, queries go to an aggregated materialized view; any analyst request for raw PII requires DPO-approved ticket, JIT access, and is logged.

This design balances usability for BI with legal and technical safeguards; enforce with automation, audits, and clear owner-and-process documentation.