Data integrity is extremely important as it ensures that data is trustworthy and reliable. This reliability helps make informed decisions, run efficient operations, and perform accurate analysis.
If you have landed on this page, you are likely interested in ways to guarantee data integrity. And luckily, we have a top solution for you — virtual data rooms!
What is business data integrity?
Business data integrity is one of the most important aspects of data handling that refers to document consistency, accuracy and completeness. It also includes regulatory compliance (such as GDPR compliance) and security. Keeping your data’s integrity over time and across formats is an ongoing process that requires different processes, rules, and standards.
What are data integrity types?
To keep data accurate in both hierarchical and relational databases, two primary types of data integrity are used — physical integrity and logical integrity. Logical integrity comprises four sub-categories: domain, referential, entity, and user-defined integrity. All these are rules and procedures that application programmers, data processing managers, system programmers, and internal auditors use to ensure that data keeps its integrity.
- Physical integrity
Physical integrity refers to the methods and procedures that guarantee the accuracy of data when it is stored and retrieved. Factors such as power outages, natural disasters, hackers, and design flaws can threaten physical integrity. When physical integrity is compromised, the affected data becomes unusable.
- Logical integrity
When we talk about logical integrity, we refer to data accuracy within a particular context. Specifically, it’s important to ensure that data makes sense logically. Here, businesses may also face some challenges, including human errors and design flaws.
Next, we invite you to see how online data room software ensures data integrity using the example of the leading provider, iDeals VDR.
How do virtual data rooms ensure business data integrity?
As software explicitly designed for business, a data room includes dozens of sophisticated mechanisms to ensure the security and integrity of confidential documents. This solution has become widely used across industries thanks to strict compliance and comprehensive data protection that is immune to all threats.
What a data room has for data integrity:
- Secure data centers featuring security staff, strict access policies, surveillance cameras, and biometric authentication
- Redundancy in power supply, network connectivity, and storage to ensure continuous access to data
- Robust backup strategies, including off-site backups, that protect against data loss in case of physical disasters
- Comprehensive disaster recovery plans that cover both digital and physical aspects
- Granular role-based user permissions designed to prevent unauthorized viewing, editing, or deletion of documents
- 256-bit data encryption for data protection in transit and at rest
- Detailed audit trails capturing user activities within a secure data room that supports data integrity monitoring and accountability
- Dynamic watermarking that deters unauthorized sharing or copying of documents, adding a layer of security and traceability
- Two-factor authentication to ensure that only authorized individuals can access a data room
- Secure communication protocols such as Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security that protect data in transit and maintain document integrity
- Time and IP access restrictions for restricting login from the particular IP address and configuring policies for session duration
- Data validation rules that ensure entries adhere to specified formats, quantities, and types
- Reporting features with insights into any inconsistencies, enabling administrators to take corrective action
- Consistency in data types to prevent conflicts and maintain accuracy
And finally, another point worth highlighting is compliance, which is an integral part of business data integrity.
Virtual data room compliance for data integrity
Virtual data room services that take security seriously follow strict standards recognized worldwide. In particular, the best vendors are ISO 27001:2013 certified, which means they comply with high-risk management standards. Also, they can have SOC 1, SOC 2, or SOC 3 certifications, meaning they take the necessary precautions to protect your data and follow the SOC Security Principles.
Moreover, VDR providers are usually GDPR compliant and maintain data integrity following one of the most important European Union regulations on information privacy. Finally, their data centers are HIPAA compliant, which means they protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information.
You may also want to know: Usage of data room for due diligence
Final words
As data integrity is crucial to your business, you should protect it properly. By choosing data rooms, you can rest assured that your documents are secure and that their integrity and compliance are maintained against all odds. This way, you can focus on your mission without worrying about data safety!
