How Financial Services Companies Can Build Trust With Effective Data Privacy Management

In financial services, trust isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the foundation upon which client relationships are built. But maintaining that trust in an increasingly digital landscape comes with its own set of hurdles, particularly when it comes to safeguarding sensitive data. Financial institutions face some of the most stringent data protection requirements globally, making data security and privacy not just a compliance checkbox, but a strategic imperative.

While often used interchangeably, data security is about protecting data from unauthorized access (the ‘lock’), whereas data privacy is about governing how that data is used and shared in alignment with individual rights (the ‘key’). 

That’s where Salesforce Privacy Center comes in. For Financial Services Cloud customers, Privacy Center offers a powerful suite of features designed to help you navigate the complex web of regulations, mitigate risk, and even optimize system performance. With Privacy Center, you can transform compliance from a burden into a competitive advantage, empowering your organization to build deeper trust.

Why data privacy is non-negotiable in financial services

The financial services industry operates under a microscope of data protection laws. Neglecting these can lead to significant financial penalties, legal challenges, and a severe blow to customer confidence. Here’s a look at some key regulations driving the need for sophisticated data governance in Financial Services Cloud, and how Privacy Center helps:

• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA): This U.S. regulation requires financial institutions to clearly explain their information-sharing practices and, crucially, to protect sensitive customer data. Privacy Center aids GLBA compliance by enabling you to retain only essential data and to mask or delete customer records when they are no longer needed.
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA): These acts grant consumers the right to request the deletion of their personal data and to limit data retention. Privacy Center’s Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) policies allow institutions to programmatically address these requests by targeting specific records, such as Contact or Individual objects, and applying deletion or masking actions.
• EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A cornerstone of data privacy, GDPR emphasizes data minimization, data subject rights, and time-limited retention of personal data. With Privacy Center’s scheduled Data Management Policies, you can enforce time-based deletion of financial accounts‌ — ‌for instance, accounts closed over seven years ago‌ — ‌directly aligning with GDPR’s “storage limitation” principle.
• SEC, FINRA, and other retention-focused rules: Beyond privacy, various regulations from bodies like the SEC and FINRA mandate that certain records, such as financial transactions and investment records, must be retained for specific timeframes, often ranging from five to seven years. Privacy Center’s Hyperforce-based Retention Store is uniquely designed to support these long-term retention requirements without inflating your Salesforce production environment storage.

Tackling common data management challenges with Privacy Center

Managing vast amounts of data presents unique challenges for Financial Services Cloud clients. Privacy Center directly addresses these pain points, offering solutions that streamline operations and bolster your compliance posture.

Here’s how Privacy Center solves common data management challenges:

Challenge: Bloated systems

Solution: Scheduled Data Management Policies help reduce system load while ensuring you meet data minimization rules. Imagine automatically deleting old, unnecessary financial account data, freeing up valuable resources and improving system performance.

Challenge: Inconsistent handling of deletion requests

Solution: Centralized RTBF Policy Management standardizes how you respond to CCPA and GDPR requests across all customer data. This ensures consistency and efficiency, reducing the manual burden and potential for errors.

Challenge: Retaining data for compliance while minimizing liability

Solution: The Hyperforce-based Retention Store allows you to retain legally required data securely, without the risk of accidental access or exposing Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This provides a secure, separate environment for mandated long-term data retention.

Challenge: Customer PII spread across multiple objects

Solution: RTBF with child object chaining enables you to reliably delete or mask data across Contact, Account, and various Financial Services Cloud objects. This is critical for ensuring comprehensive data removal or anonymization, even when PII is linked across multiple records. For example, a policy can be configured to target a top-level object like ‘Financial Account’ and then automatically extend to related child objects such as ‘Financial Holdings’ and ‘Issued Cards’ to ensure no sensitive data is left behind.

Empower your financial institution with Privacy Center

In an industry where every detail matters and trust is paramount, effective data privacy management is essential. Privacy Center offers a comprehensive solution for Financial Services Cloud customers to meet their regulatory obligations proactively, reduce operational complexities, and reinforce client trust. It’s an investment not just in compliance, but in the sustained success and reputation of your financial institution.

Ready to take control of your data privacy and compliance? Contact your Salesforce account executive today to learn more about how Privacy Center can empower your financial institution to build deeper trust and navigate the regulatory landscape with confidence.