Christine Andrews of DQM GRC to present at Safe4 Conference

/in , ,

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is looming. This EU-originated legislation will come into force in 2018, and already many UK organisations are becoming aware of the impact that the new regulation will have. The imposition of heavy fines and the more onerous responsibilities placed upon data controllers and data processors are concentrating the minds of data protection officers in organisations large and small, in all sectors of business.

Safe4 are delighted to announce that Christine Andrews, Managing Director of DQM GRC, will be presenting at the Safe4 Conference in London on 17 November. Christine has many years’ experience in the field of regulation and compliance, and offers a deep understanding of what this means to different types of organisation. As well as appreciating the need to get to grips with the impact of GDPR, Christine and her team are skilled at advising on positive solutions and good practice that will allow data protection officers to have confidence that risks to their organisations are being minimised and compliance enhanced.

Ben Martin, director of Safe4, believes that “many of our customers have shown that they take data protection very seriously, and are making extensive use of the secure information management capabilities that the Safe4 system provides. Christine’s presentation will add valuable insight to the opportunities for improvement in current practice to ensure that the additional demands of GDPR are being met”.

Safe4 version 4.5 is released

/in ,

Safe4 has been evolving steadily since launch in 2010, and the latest release is delivering some valuable enhancements.  As well as a series of underlying improvements to performance and security, some specific changes in functionality are included in this version:

  • The maximum number of failed login attempts has been set at 5, after which the user will be locked out and will have to restart their browser. This will help to counter any brute-force attacks that may be directed towards the system.
  • New look-and-feel on many of the pages in the provider administration functions. The pages that have been upgraded are now “responsive”, and will alter the layout according to the orientation of the device being used, and the size of the display window.
  • The user invitation process has been extended, with an unlimited number of invitations in a single page. The allocation of security groups to users has also been made simpler.
  • After successful registration of their account, new users will receive an email, branded with the provider details, advising of the correct URL to access the system in future with full provider branding.
  • Email signatures can be set at provider level, rather than relying on individuals to update their own account. Provider-level signatures can be overridden by individual users if they wish.
  • Email signatures can include the name and logo of the organisation, positioned in the footer of outgoing emails according to preference.
  • Branding screens have been improved, so that the process of entering welcome text for login pages and disclaimers for email invitations is simpler.
  • Newly-invited users will automatically be assigned the same time zone as the inviting user. This will help with the increasing adoption of Safe4 by organisations in different time zones.
  • A blacklist option for unwanted file types has been included at both provider and vault level, to complement the existing whitelist facility.
  • When a vault is copied with the users who have registered for that vault, the permission groups that have been applied to the user will be copied across to the new vault.
  • The File Index facility now shows when a file was last accessed any by whom, and as before can be downloaded in CSV format for further analysis and reporting.
  • The user count on the provider home page shows the number of active users and the number of pending invitations in each vault.

As always, we at Safe4 are listening to customer feedback. All of the changes listed above are the result of functionality requests from customers, and this approach will continue to drive the activities of the Safe4 development team.

For any further information on Safe4 and how it might be able to assist your organisation, please get in touch with us.

Safe4 to unveil the new Asset Register at the Society of Will Writers Conference

/in , ,

Safe4 launched the Digital Inheritance Vault at the Society of Will Writers Conference in October 2015, and this has subsequently been presented at many of the Society’s regional group meetings.  Members have been taking up the vault as a means of helping their clients to manage their inheritance plans and digital legacy, and many are actively promoting the facility.

At the Society’s Conference in October 2016, Safe4 will be announcing and demonstrating an important enhancement to the Digital Inheritance Vault.  Described as the Asset Register, this will provide a means for each client to manage critical information that will be essential when probate is being carried out, and importantly will allow the will-writer to set up different asset classes to manage information about the appropriate elements of their client’s digital legacy.

Strict security settings will be applied to the Asset Register to ensure that no unauthrised access can be gained.  Upon the death of the testator, and after suitable steps to prove identity, the client’s executor will be given read-only access to the Asset Register and the Vault, thus providing all of the requisite information required for probate in one place.

Different asset classes will include basic identity information about the client – NI number, NHS Number, etc – as well as online account details.  Physical assets such as property, jewellery, motor vehicles, works of art and others can also be identified in the register, as can details of accounts with organisations such as PayPal, gambling accounts, store cards, and others that may have credit balances that would add value to the estate.  Of great value will be the ability to record access details for the client’s digital devices, such as iPads, computers, telephones and others that may contain treasured memories, as well as information relating to email and social media accounts.

Ben Martin, Director of Safe4, believes that the Asset Register will add significantly to the value that the Digital Inheritance Vault brings to the end client.  “Until now, the vault has been a highly effective way to store the confidential documents that make up the client’s estate plan.  This in itself will have a major impact on the way in which probate is handled, reducing the time taken by 2 months or more by making all of the critical documents available in one place.  The Asset Register will enhance this considerably by providing a means to store a wide range of information that may not be represented in documents, but will nevertheless be of great importance to the client’s executor and family.  Unlocking social media and email accounts, allowing access to be gained to physical devices that may contain irreplaceable memories, and generally summarising a wide range of online activities in a facility that can be easily and safely updated and maintained during the testator’s lifetime will give the family a means to recover vital information that can so easily be lost.”