Did you know that copying one of your customers pictures shared with you on social media to your company website without their permisson can land you in legal trouble? A website designer that you hire who posts your clients images to promote your product or service online or as an endorsement on a business site without obtaining their permission, has violated that customer's right of publicity on your behalf. For this type of violation to occur, the public must be able to identify you in the photo used.

In Washington State for example Courts may award the greater amount of either:

• $1,500
• The actual damages sustained as a result of an infringement.

(Wash. Rev. Code § 63.60.060(2) (2012).)

The next time you consider having someone work on your website who lacks compliance expertise, ask yourself, is it really worth the risk?

Non-compliance can get mighty expensive mighty fast! In 2021 JPMorgan was fined $200 million and agreed to pay a penalty of $125 million ecordkeeping violatations according to  sec.gov. In 2019 Marriott was hit with $124 million fine in 2019, In 2017 Equifax paid $575 million for its 2017 breach, and Uber paid $150 million for a breach in 2016.

For most people who start trying to navigate the compliance maze PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX and other regulations can be overwhelming. While these and other regulatory frameworks were created to protect individuals and companies, their complex requirements present a sizeable and expensive challenge to the organizations that must comply. And there are certainly more regulations to come.

What if we told you that compliance saves money?

While compliance with regulations like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) come with hefty price tags, the non-compliance is far more expensive. In fact, one recent industry study found that the cost of non-compliance is 2.71 times higher than the cost of compliance. Organizations that delay compliance efforts are taking an ill-advised risk which could ultimately yield a pricier penalty.

Our team has experience guiding some of the largest organizations through PCI-DSS, SOX, and other frameworks.

We are ready to bring our experience to your table. We are not here to sell you a compliance tool or framework but instead our goal is to help you make the best choices based on your business needs. Let's face it, you wouldn't buy a home without the guidance of an experienced realtor, why would you risk trying to go it alone when it comes to planning out your businesses compliance strategy?