Why DMJX Switched to .legal: Simplifying GDPR Compliance

Background 

The Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX) is a publicly funded university based in Aarhus, Denmark. They became a client of .legal in early 2023 and started using the platform for GDPR compliance. 

DMJX employs 160 full-time educators, researchers, administrative staff, and several external educators, which serve thousands of students.

How did you work with compliance before using .legal?

Before choosing .legal, DMJX managed their GDPR compliance through another compliance platform. While the platform functioned as expected, its price and complexity led DMJX to seek alternatives. Consequently, DMJX’s GDPR coordinator, Kaspar Ravn Rochholz, explored the market for other GDPR compliance software to better support their needs.

In the end, DMJX chose the GDPR Compliance platform from .legal. Key factors in the decision were the platform's more intuitive user experience and its pricing structure, which aligned better with DMJX’s requirements. The scope of the platform’s features also suited an organisation like DMJX more effectively.

It was particularly valuable that .legal offered a module specifically designed for managing GDPR compliance in research projects (Privacy Research), and that the platform could also assist with data processor audits (Vendor Management). Additionally, DMJX’s DPO was already familiar with and trusted the capabilities of the .legal platform.

The .legal customer success team assisted DMJX in migrating their existing documentation via an Excel export, allowing DMJX to seamlessly continue their GDPR tasks from where they had left off, but now within the .legal platform.

Which Products Does DMJX Use? 

Ultimately, DMJX chose the Privacy-module from .legal, because the platform's competitive pricing and functionality perfectly aligned with DMJX’s needs. Other solutions on the market, while larger and more expensive, were too complex and overwhelming for the school’s requirements.

“.legal is particularly appealing because it’s competitive in terms of price and functionality, and it meets our needs at DMJX,” said Kaspar Ravn Rochholz.

DMJX now uses the .legal platform for Data Protection and the Privacy Research module, which was designed explicitly for GDPR documentation in research projects.

Privacy Module

DMJX chose the privacy module to handle their GDPR compliance. Here they make use of all the platform's functionalities. DMJX have made a complete data mapping of processes, assets and vendors, giving them an overview of how personal data is handled within the organisation and the option to withdraw an updated record of processing activities. But DMJX does also make use of the risk module for GDPR risk assessments and the Compliance task management for recurring compliance tasks throughout the year.

Read more about the .legal Data Protection module here

Research Module

Privacy Research is specifically designed to document personal data within research projects. While having a number of yearly research projects in the school, DMJX was also benefiting from this module. Not only has the module helped with GDPR documentation for the active research projects - but the module does also provide DMJX and their researchers an overview of projects and details around these.

Beyond GDPR compliance, the Privacy Research module has actually made it easier to apply to the Responsible Research Committee and Ethics Committee as part of the same process. Because the module gathers relevant information and lets DMJX withdraw reports in relevant formats.

Read more about .legals Privacy Research module here

Onboarding Process

The onboarding process with .legal was seamless.

Since DMJX had previously used another compliance platform for GDPR documentation, we needed to migrate their existing documentation to the software. The Customer Success team at .legal assisted with this process, migrating data such as processing activities, IT systems, and data processors.

“We only needed to adjust about 10% of the imported data to get the records to match, so the transition to .legal was very easy,” said Kaspar Ravn Rochholz.

Getting started with the platform was straightforward, and understanding its functionality was intuitive. If any questions arose, especially in the beginning, the Customer Success team at .legal responded promptly with helpful guidance and showed great patience with any human errors.

The onboarding process itself with both import of data and onboarding sessions took a couple of weeks. And afterwards the .legal support team has helped answer questions that have arisen on the way.

Do you want to migrate from another platform? Read more about how we can help here.

How is it to collaborate with colleagues

With the platform it have been easier to share insights and overview with colleagues. DMJX has several users in the platform, who can find relevant information such as policies and procedures. The platform gives the school the option to have one shared point of view of their GDPR compliance documentation.

A user-friendly platform makes it easier to succeed in involving multiple users in GDPR tasks and the .legal platform is designed to help with this. 

How does the product impact your work?

The intuitive design of the platform has made GDPR compliance much simpler:

“The platform easily guides you through the specific requirements for creating documentation,” said Kaspar Ravn Rochholz.

The structure provided by the platform has made it easier to maintain an overview of GDPR documentation. The Processing Activity module in the software, in combination with IT systems and Data Processors, has added significant value to DMJX’s GDPR processes. It provides an easy-to-understand overview, ensuring a proper and up-to-date Record of Processing Activities. These module automate part of the GDPR Documentation and gives the user the possibility to view the same data from different point of view.

“It’s really easy to see the link between processes, IT systems, and data processors,” added Kaspar Ravn Rochholz.

Additionally, the platform offers tools that simplify conducting risk assessments using the existing documentation. And Compliance Task Management to handle the ongoing GDPR tasks.

Support and Continuous Updates

DMJX has been very satisfied with their collaboration with .legal and has nothing but praise for the support team. The team responds quickly, and it’s always possible to schedule a meeting with someone from .legal – a service they greatly appreciate. Here the team meets both request for features, support and answers questions.

“It makes our work easier to have this kind of support available on an ongoing basis,” concluded Kaspar Ravn Rochholz.

The platform is continuously developed, with new features and legal updates regularly added. Kaspar Ravn Rochholz particularly noted how the platform has been updated in response to new regulations on third-country transfers and the catalogue of security measures from the Danish Data Protection Agency.