Why Dastra Is Now Indispensable for Our GDPR Compliance
Can you introduce yourself?
I'm Nicolas Devoucoux, and I’ve been the Data Protection Officer (DPO) at the Nièvre Departmental Public Service Management Center (CDG 58) for just over a year.
I come from an unconventional background—having worked as a professional firefighter and a surveyor before becoming a DPO. Despite the variety, one thread connects all these roles: a focus on the acquisition, enhancement, dissemination, and now protection of data.
What is your role as a DPO?
My main role is to assist the public institution in achieving GDPR compliance: this includes raising awareness among staff about the protection of personal data, setting up procedures to ensure transparency and access to rights, as well as creating and managing the register of processing activities and associated compliance action plans.
Another important part of my work is preparing the future General Interest Group, scheduled to launch in January 2023, by helping it build its data protection governance from the ground up—with a strong emphasis on Privacy by Design.
Why did you choose Dastra?
We chose Dastra because it’s a comprehensive, all-in-one platform that brings together all the pillars of GDPR compliance, including:
- The record of processing activities
- Risk analysis
- Action plan management
- Data subject request
- Data breach reporting
I appreciate the intuitiveness of the platform: each step is clearly structured, and the activity creation flow is both logical and user-friendly.
I also appreciate the extensive customization options, which make Dastra adaptable to a wide variety of DPO expectations and organizational needs.
Finally, collaborative work is facilitated. Information flows are present at various stages (registers, planning, GDPR audits, data subject requests, data breaches).
I also appreciate the extensive customization options, which demonstrate Dastra's adaptability to the various expectations of DPOs.
What were your objectives?
The main objective was to centralize all compliance-related documents within a single platform, easily accessible to our colleagues. Previously, we were juggling spreadsheets, reports, and contractual documents across multiple tools. It quickly became clear that this fragmented setup was unsustainable.
A secondary objective was to simplify document updates. Updating one document often had a ripple effect across others—a source of inefficiency we needed to eliminate.
It quickly became clear that managing different documents (spreadsheets, reports, contractual documents) in a fragmented set up would be problematic.
What challenges were you facing before Dastra?
The main challenge was the scattered presence of many documents for each data processing activity. Exchanges were mainly carried out by email, which further complicated the creation process. Therefore, a collaborative tool was needed to facilitate the involvement of colleagues in the project.
How was your onboarding experience with Dastra?
It is very easy to familiarize yourself with the Dastra environment. The menus are intuitive, and the dashboard is highly useful. The three support sessions are a real plus because the exchanges with the Dastra team allow for a better understanding of everyone's challenges. That personalized support saved us a great deal of time.
Exchanges with the Dastra team allow for a better understanding of everyone's challenges.
What was your decision-making process?
I tested several platforms over a month and conducted a comparative analysis to find the best match for our needs. Dastra came out ahead in terms of functionality, user experience, and value.
What benefits have you gained from using Dastra?
Dastra is the GDPR platform. It enables us to move quickly, with full confidence that no step is overlooked.
Dastra has become essential for carrying out action plans.
Processes are created directly with colleagues, without relying on outdated pre-forms or other scattered "in-house" spreadsheets.
Dastra has become essential for carrying out action plans and monitoring tasks assigned to colleagues. The platform simplifies exchanges and allows for better responsiveness, and brought clarity to every stage of the process.
The audit functionalities, whether customized or not, are a real plus. Once again, they can be sent to our subcontractors and employees to define risk levels and corrective actions to be taken.
