The shortest guide to B2B data compliance and security

From website user preferences to customer contact forms, data helps inform common consumer touchpoints and shapes impactful B2B marketing strategies.
However, with more eyes on consumer data than ever before, governing bodies including the European Union and the United States have enacted strict data security and compliance laws. As B2B marketers begin to navigate the complexities of data security, it’s paramount to remain in compliance with global regulations.
In this guide, we’re sharing all you need to know about B2B data compliance and security.
B2B data is information that helps sales, marketing, and revenue teams power their campaigns. This includes information that can help identify new potential leads and engage with them.
B2B data compliance and security refers to the formal (often governmental) practices for protecting consumer data against corruption, loss, misuse, and theft. This includes abiding by all regulations that apply to your B2B business, including the proper usage, organization, and storage of all consumer data.
B2B data compliance is typically split between personal and business data.
Personal data refers to any piece of personally identifiable information (PII) that can directly or indirectly identify an individual. This data is directly included under the scope of all data compliance legislation, regardless of jurisdiction.
Examples of personal data include:
Business data refers to any piece of information directly connected to an organization, such as a business name or email address.
Business data is not directly included under data compliance legislation; however, there is a gray area for one-person businesses, like freelancers and sole proprietors. In these cases, business data could constitute personal data if it enables the identification of a single person.
Likewise, certain business email addresses could be considered personal, such as email addresses that include the name of an employee (i.e. janedoe@business.com).
As a B2B business, you likely handle a range of personal data — like IP addresses and phone numbers — as well as business data like company emails. Under data security and compliance laws, identifiable data must be protected.
In an effort to protect sensitive consumer data, you’ll come across a wide variety of legal terms. Let’s simplify some of the more common data compliance-related legal terms in B2B marketing.
It should be obvious by now that B2B marketers have a duty to keep customer data secure. The benefits of B2B data compliance in marketing, however, may not be as evident to your sales and RevOps teams.
Take a look at how data compliance serves as a benefit for B2B marketing.
At a time when ransomware and similar cybersecurity threats are running rampant, consumers want to know their data is safe with your brand.
After all, 36% of consumers will reduce their business interactions with a company involved in a data breach while 22% will end the relationship altogether, as reported by Security. Data security and compliance helps build more trusting relationships with your users and keeps them around for longer. As more customers become concerned with how their data is managed (or mismanaged) by companies, it’s imperative to demonstrate responsibility for the sensitive data you store.
B2B brands that showcase transparency and a willingness to explain exactly how customer data is used and processed come off as more trustworthy to prospects and customers alike.
Data breaches are getting larger and more common than ever before. Consider the Apollo.io data breach in 2018, which exposed 9 million data points.
You can mitigate a lot of these risks through data compliance. This includes everything from taking the proper precautions to secure your data to running routine audits to ensure your team is following proper data security measures.
With the SOC-2 certification, B2B sales intelligence tools like UserGems have done their due diligence with the organization and storage of sensitive customer job changes data. This guarantees enhanced visibility into how data is used and any immediate risks.
From customer relationship management tools (CRMs) to sales pipeline software, a cluttered database can significantly derail an effective B2B marketing campaign.
Fortunately, those compliant with data security laws must audit all data held in the system to properly understand the exact PPI they have available.
A data audit can help B2B brands declutter the amount of data collected, better organize the details in a usable fashion, and refine the storage process for a cleaner database of compliant b2b data.
On average, 87% of consumers say they wouldn’t do business with a company if they had concerns about its security practices, as per a McKinsey & Company report.
In comparison, nearly half of consumers say they are more likely to trust a company that limits the amount of personal information requested.
In other words, today’s consumers are not as in the dark about data security as you may think. B2B marketers who prove their dedication to compliance benefit from a better brand image and greater appeal to their target market.
Of course, a primary benefit of B2B data compliance in marketing is compliance with the law.
First and foremost, there are harsh penalties for brands that fail to comply. Businesses who violate standards established under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can face fines of up to €20 million or 4% of their global revenue along with customer lawsuits, for example.
Secondly, the financial repercussions of noncompliance pale in comparison to reputational effects. Organizations with poor data security — especially those that fall victim to a cyber-attack due to poor security — do not fare well among today’s consumers.
A whopping 71% of consumers claim they would stop doing business with a company if it gave away sensitive data without permission, according to the same McKinsey & Company report.
It’s common for B2B businesses to source second or third-party data for marketing initiatives. To remain truly compliant in your own business, it’s imperative to confirm that a potential data vendor abides by data security laws when collecting, processing, and sharing this sourced information. Here is a three-point data compliance checklist to use when evaluating and verifying potential vendors.
Remember terms like anonymization and explicit consent defined above? Terms such as these play major roles when evaluating the data used by marketing and sales teams.
It’s essential to learn how a vendor sources their data to verify it’s compliant with data protection laws, such as implementing explicit consent and not disclosing the identities of the individuals represented.
With so many ground rules for compliance, there are now several certifications vendors can acquire to demonstrate data security, privacy, and compliance.
For instance, check if their business is SOC-2 and ISO27001 certified.
There are several elements of compliance beyond data collection, including how the data is used once it’s sourced.
To remain in compliance, all data must be thoroughly audited as well as organized and stored with a type of encryption (such as pseudonymization) to limit the chances of data fraud or theft. Audit all stages of data storage, including migration, analysis, and archival.
Reliable data is an integral part of B2B marketing, and reliable data hinges on adequate data security. Now more than ever before, consumers expect that their data will be safe in your hands.
How you choose to collect and store this data will either elevate your B2B marketing or inflict severe financial and reputational repercussions. Make sure you stay on the right side of data compliance by doing your research, staying up-to-date on regulations, and working with trusted (and certified) vendors.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not distinguish between B2B and B2C business types; however, B2B businesses do collect a majority of business data, which can fall under a gray area for data compliance.
For instance, whereas a general contact email for an organization is considered business data that are not directly included under data compliance legislation, an email that contains the name of an employee will be considered personal data protected under GDPR.
The GDPR covers all entities that collect, process, use, store, and disseminate personal data, including B2B businesses.
Personal data includes any items of information that can be linked to a living person and when pieced together, identify that person.
B2B businesses frequently collect email addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses that could identify a member of their data set.
No, the GDPR directly covers personal data, not business (company) data. Exceptions to this coverage that may constitute personal data include one-person companies that allow for the identification of a singular person and personal data relating to an individual’s business activity, such as an employee’s email address that includes their first and last name.
This type of data includes behavioral, demographic, and personal information. It’s the information collected when users interact with your website, apps, social media, campaigns, etc.
Yes and no. Some elements of B2B data, like a business name or general contact email (i.e. hello@business.com), are not considered personal data.
Other types of B2B data, such as email and IP addresses or phone numbers that can identify an individual, are considered personal data. Data relating to sole traders or partners are also considered personal data under the Data Protection Act.
Yes, most emails are considered personal data under GDPR. An email address is included as a type of personally identifiable information that can be used alone or in conjunction with other data to identify an individual.
Emails that are not considered personal data under GDPR are business addresses not directly tied to an actual person, such as help@businessname.com.
Emails that are not considered personal data under GDPR are business addresses not directly tied to an actual person, such as help@businessname.com.