Pearson CIPM New Attempt

The first stage in the incident response plan under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for this scenario would be to contain the impact of the breach. This means taking immediate action to stop the unauthorized access or disclosure of personal data, and to prevent it from happening again in the future. This could involve revoking access to the data, notifying the employee who mistakenly sent the data, and implementing security measures to prevent similar breaches from occurring in the future.

Under the GDPR, a controller must notify a data subject of a personal data breach without undue delay when the breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the data subject, unless one of the following conditions applies: the personal data are rendered unintelligible to any person who is not authorized to access it, such as by encryption; the controller has taken subsequent measures to ensure that the high risk is no longer likely to materialize; or the notification would involve disproportionate effort, in which case a public communication or similar measure may suffice. In this case, an encrypted USB key with sensitive personal data is stolen, but the personal data are presumably unintelligible to the thief, so the controller does not need to notify the data subject. However, the controller still needs to notify the supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.

The most appropriate early steps are toclarify purpose,scope, anddata needs(D), confirm whether current notices/lawful bases cover the proposed processing (C), and applydata minimization/anonymizationwhere possible (A). Jumping immediately to a broad public disclosure (B) is premature before confirming feasibility, lawful basis, necessity, proportionality, and whether the initiative will proceed as described. Transparency is essential, but it follows (and is informed by) the assessment of the actual processing design.

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The main purpose in notifying data subjects of a data breach is to allow individuals to take any actions required to protect themselves from possible consequences, such as identity theft, fraud, or discrimination. This is consistent with the principle of transparency and the right to information under the GDPR. The other options are not the main purpose of notification, although they may be secondary effects or benefits of the process. References:

Data protection impact assessments | ICO

[Art. 34 GDPR – Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject - GDPR.eu]