An organization is enhancing the security of a client-facing web application following a proposal to acquire personal information for a business purpose. Which of the following is MOST important to…

Data ownership assignments are important for internal accountability but do not supersede the external legal obligations imposed by regulatory bodies.

When a web application begins acquiring personal information, organizations immediately become subject to various data protection and privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA). Reviewing these regulatory compliance requirements is paramount as they define the legal obligations for data handling, consent, storage, security, and breach notification, dictating the overall security and operational approach.

Customer notification procedures are a component of compliance (e.g., data breach notification, privacy policy updates), but the broader regulatory compliance review must precede and inform these specific procedures.

Encryption capabilities are a technical security control that will be *implemented* to meet security requirements, which are in turn driven by regulatory compliance, rather than being the first thing to review.