If you own or manage a company that stores and processes sensitive information, it may be a good idea to make sure that your company is SOC2 compliant.  

A SOC2 Type II report focuses on five areas of service delivery in particular: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. 

‘Security. Information and systems are protected against unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosure of information, and damage to systems that could compromise the availability, integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of information or systems and affect the entity’s ability to achieve its objectives.[1]

Availability refers to the accessibility of information used by the entity’s systems as well as the products or services provided to its customers.[2] 

Processing integrity refers to the completeness, validity, accuracy, timeliness, and authorization of system processing. Processing integrity addresses whether systems achieve the aim or purpose for which they exist and whether they perform their intended functions in an unimpaired manner, free from error, delay, omission, and unauthorized or inadvertent manipulation.[3] 

Confidentiality addresses the entity’s ability to protect information designated as confidential from its collection or creation through its final disposition and removal from the entity’s control in accordance with management’s objectives.[4] 

Privacy. Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of to meet the entity’s objectives.’[5] 

QuestMark manages sensitive data in many cases.  We make sure that customer information is safe, secure, and confidential at all times, but allow it to be accessed by appropriate personnel when necessary. 

QuestMark’s Current SOC2 Compliance Level 

QuestMark utilizes a licensed CPA firm to audit and test QuestMark controls and provide SOC 2 Type II attestation reports. QuestMark has passed a successful audit and test of the SOC 2 Type II controls as established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). 

If you have any questions, please contact us or call us at 713-662-9022. 

[1] https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downloadabledocuments/trust-services-criteria.pdf 

[2] https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downloadabledocuments/trust-services-criteria.pdf 

[3] https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downloadabledocuments/trust-services-criteria.pdf 

[4] https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downloadabledocuments/trust-services-criteria.pdf 

[5] https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downloadabledocuments/trust-services-criteria.pdf 

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In 2014, USPS rolled out a pilot project in a few zip codes called Informed Delivery®.   Informed Delivery® is a free and optional notification feature that gives residential consumers the ability to digitally preview their letter-sized mail and manage their packages that are scheduled to arrive soon.  Informed Delivery® benefits anyone living in the home by allowing users to view what is coming to their mailbox whenever, wherever – even while traveling – on a computer, tablet, or mobile device.

Users receive emails to the email address in their personal USPS.com® account containing grayscale images of the exterior, address side of up to 10 pieces of incoming letter-sized mail. These images are also accessible on the Informed Delivery® dashboard at informeddelivery.USPS.com.

Who Is Informed Delivery^® Available To?

Most residential addresses are uniquely coded, but not all are, especially in high density areas (e.g., apartment buildings or condos). If your address is not uniquely coded, you will not be able to sign up for Informed Delivery® at this time, but you can check back at a later date to see if your address is eligible. USPS® is working to increase the number of addresses with access to Informed Delivery®. Informed Delivery® is also available to customers that have a PO Box in an eligible ZIP Code™ location. Please note that in-person identity proofing may be required to sign up for Informed Delivery® on a PO Box. Additional documents (PO Box application PS Form 1093 or online record of payment) may be required to successfully complete the sign-up process.

Signing Up as a Consumer

To sign up you may read, print or download the How to Sign Up for Informed Delivery step-by-step guide.  After you sign up, you will receive a Welcome Letter in the mail. If the information in the letter is correct, no further action is required.

Informed Delivery Services through QuestMark

Ride-Along Campaigns Tied to your Mailings

QuestMark’s business customers can benefit from the program using Informed Delivery® ride-along campaigns.  A full color image with interactive content that represents the campaign can be added in order to engage users.  Users will be able to view all content and images in their daily Informed Delivery email or on their dashboard.  Some guidelines, an image, and content example are below. QuestMark can assist in providing guidance to your team when you decide to move forward with doing an Informed Delivery ride-along campaign.

Call to Action

The ride-along image should invite the recipient to take action.  When the user clicks on the image they can be directed to your website to take action such as ordering additional services, subscribing to programs, etc.  Analytics are available for these campaigns including:

• Mail recipients that subscribe to Informed Delivery®
• Impressions
• Click-throughs

Questions

For more information, call us at 713-662-9022 to speak with your project manager or complete our online request form.

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Data retention is defined as ‘the policies of persistent data and records management for meeting legal and business data archival requirements’[i].  Most companies today have data retention policies. Data can be expensive to store not only because of the cost of storage, but also because of the potential liability of keeping information for too long. Data retention policies can also limit exposure to security breaches. Data retention policies cover what data should be stored, where it will be stored, and for how long.  Once the retention time period for an agreed upon data set expires, it should be purged.

What should a data retention policy include?

A data retention policy should indicate the purpose for retaining information, define the data to be retained, and outline a retention scope.  The policy should include detailed data retention requirements such as a general retention schedule, rules for safeguarding data during retention, guidelines for destruction of data, and rules for breach, enforcement, and compliance.

QuestMark’s Retention Policy

QuestMark maintains a retention policy for every active client. QuestMark will review the retention policy with you and your team during onboarding and when policy changes occur.  Clients should review, sign and date, and retain a copy of the retention policy.

Questions

For more information, call us at 713-662-9022 to speak with your project manager or complete our online request form.

[i] Data Retention definition from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_retention.

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Did you know that QuestMark can print, mail, and provide online presentment for these yearly IRS tax forms?

Or, would you rather deal with purchasing software, buying blank forms and envelopes, managing inventory, and dealing with printing, folding, inserting, and mailing?  We think NOT!

We accept the same electronic data file and format that you provide the IRS.  There is no need to convert or export the file into any special proprietary format.  Let us produce your tax documents for you without all the hassles.

How it works

• Securely send us your IRS data file.
• QuestMark processes the data file and presents reports and PDF samples online, in StatifyKPI™, for you to review and approve.
• Upon approval, documents are printed, inserted, and mailed.
• Optionally, StatifyKPI™ is available to track delivery of these important documents. Archived copies of PDFs can also be made available in this system in case copies need to be retrieved for viewing, printing, and/or mailing.
• Undeliverable mail can be returned to you or destroyed using secure destruction.

Benefits

• Postage savings. Your documents will be mailed at presorted rates.
• No need to manage supplies inventory.
• No labor required for printing, inserting, and delivering mail to the Post Office.
• No need to buy software for printing forms.
• No need to buy or maintain any specialized printing and mailing equipment, including scales, postage meters, folders, inserters, and printers.

Security

• QuestMark can mask sensitive data according to your requirements.
• When using our SFTP server, data is encrypted while in transit.
• After receipt on our server, files are encrypted (on top of any encryption that you may have applied) and moved behind our firewall.
• All data remains encrypted while at rest.
• Data is processed at our secure SOC 2 TYPE II compliant data center.
• Excess or damaged material is placed in locked containers to be shredded. Destruction of material is monitored by our team.

Next Steps

Call us at 713-662-9022 and speak with one of our representatives, or complete our online request form.

The post QuestMark is here to help with all your 1099, 1098, and W2 tax forms needs appeared first on QuestMark Information Management, Inc..

It also means if a customer asks you to delete them or correct the data you have, you need a mechanism in place to do that and, as necessary, to also communicate that directive with your team members. If you are not ready to complete a consumer’s request – and you have legitimate reasons you can’t comply with the request – you must be prepared to communicate that.  You also need a strong privacy policy, and it must be written correctly. You need forms for consumers to request action on their data, and those forms must meet legal requirements. Web sites, emails, and mailings may all need to include notices for California residents. Without taking appropriate measures, your organization could be fined by the State of California or sued by California residents.

QuestMark realizes that laws like this are becoming the new normal.  Consumers are taking responsibility over their data and will soon own and control who gets to use it.  Our team is preparing for this continued privacy reform. 

Schedule a call with us to discuss possible changes required by CCPA.

The post Are You Ready for CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)? appeared first on QuestMark Information Management, Inc..

NCOA, National Change of Address, is a database of approximately 160 million permanent change-of address (COA) records of persons, families, or companies who have filed a change-of-address with the United States Postal Service (USPS).  NCOA is a service provided by USPS that provides mailers access to the COA data. For domestic moves, NCOA will report recipients who have moved and have a forwarding address as well as those without a forwarding address.  For foreign moves, NCOA reports the fact that a move has been made out of the country.  NCOA can substantially reduce undeliverable mail pieces by identifying and correcting address errors before they enter the mail stream.

Records are found in the NCOA database, but no forwarding address is provided are classified as “Undeliverable as addressed” (UAA).

During QuestMark’s onboarding process, we work with our clients to determine what NCOA rule(s) will be configured for the project.

The following NCOA rules can be set up for reporting.  These include:

• UPDATE: Anything that is a known GOOD move is updated and will be mailed to the new address.
• NO UPDATE: UAA and known moves are mailed to the ORIGINAL address.  Addresses will NOT be updated.  Sometimes this is done to meet legal/regulatory requirements.
• NO UPDATE/NOMAIL: Known moves are mailed to the ORIGINAL address.  Documents for UAA recipients are NOT mailed.
• UPDATE/NOMAIL: Anything that is a known GOOD move, is updated and will be mailed to the new address. Documents for UAA recipients are NOT mailed.
• CUSTOM RULE: QuestMark will work with you on a custom NCOA handling rule if needed.

QuestMark provides 18- and 48-month NCOA processing.  NCOA reports (Moves) are reported to our clients at the time of each processing.  This data can be uploaded to our secure web portal, QMDepot, sent to your SFTP server, or posted to your system via API.  You will be able to review the report and update your database with correct addresses as necessary.  NCOA reports can be customized to match your system requirements.  QuestMark can manage business processes that will automatically trigger letters to old and/or new mailing addresses asking the recipient to contact you to verify their address.  Having the correct address ensures that your mailings reach all of your customers.

To learn more about NCOA contact your QuestMark project manager.

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Data quality is of central importance to enterprises that rely on data for maintaining their operations.  For example, businesses need to make sure that accurate invoices are delivered to the right customers.

Here are some reasons why providing clean data is so important.

• Avoid costly errors: Data cleansing is the single best solution for steering clear of the costs that crop up when organizations are busy processing errors, correcting incorrect data, or troubleshooting.  Data errors can lead to numerous problems, including wasted printing costs, deliverability errors, delays, misleading and inaccurate customer metrics, incorrect interpretation of test outcomes, and missed marketing opportunities.
• Happier customers/fewer frustrated employees: Fewer errors mean happier customers, longer term client relationships, and fewer frustrated employees.
• Improves Efficiency: Clean data can also ensure the highest returns on email or postal campaigns as chances of encountering outdated addresses are very low.

Increases Productivity:  Having clean data prevents the project team from using out-of-date information or creating invalid vendor files in the system.  We understand that many times data is sourced from areas that are outside of your control.  Sometimes legislative/regulatory issues mandate that documents be sent to recipients formatted exactly as prescribed.  However, when permissible, QuestMark can integrate data cleansing and/or special handling for communications that are identified as having irregular data.

Clean data is important not only for project efficiency, but also for project budget.  QuestMark is ready to work with you on a data cleansing strategy.  If you would like more information, please contact your QuestMark project manager.

The post The Value of Clean Data appeared first on QuestMark Information Management, Inc..

Did you know that QuestMark can print, mail, and provide online presentment for these yearly IRS tax forms?

Or, would you rather deal with purchasing software, buying blank forms and envelopes, managing inventory, and dealing with printing, folding, inserting, and mailing?  We think NOT!

QuestMark accepts the same electronic data file and format that you provide the IRS.  There is no need to convert or export the file into any special proprietary format.  Let us produce your tax documents for you without all the hassles.

How it works

• Securely send QuestMark your IRS data file.
• QuestMark processes the data file and presents reports and PDF samples online, in StatifyKPI™, for you to review and approve.
• Upon approval, documents are printed, inserted, and mailed.
• Optionally, StatifyKPI™ is available to track delivery of these important documents. Archived copies of PDFs can also be made available in this system in case copies need to be retrieved for viewing, printing, and/or mailing.
• USPS can return undeliverable mail to you or destroy it using secure destruction.

Benefits

• Postage savings. Your documents will be mailed at automated rates.
• No need to manage supplies inventory.
• No labor required for printing, inserting, and delivering mail to the Post Office.
• No need to buy software for printing forms.
• No need to buy or maintain any specialized printing and mailing equipment, including scales, postage meters, folders, inserters, and printers.

Security

• QuestMark can mask sensitive data according to your requirements.
• When using our SFTP server, data is encrypted while in transit.
• After receipt on our server, files are encrypted (on top of any encryption that you may have applied) and moved behind our firewall.
• All data remains encrypted while at rest.
• Data is processed at our secure SOC 2 TYPE II compliant data center.
• Excess or damaged material is placed in locked containers to be shredded. Destruction of material is monitored by QuestMark personnel.

Next Steps

Call QuestMark at 713-662-9022 and speak with one of our representatives, or complete our online request form.

The post It’s Not Too Early To Plan For Your IRS 2019 Tax Forms appeared first on QuestMark Information Management, Inc..

Based on a recent Gallup poll, 41% of Americans check their mailbox daily.  You may be thinking that it is the older generation, but 36% of Americans under 30 also check their mailbox daily.

• Direct Mail is the second most-used medium for marketing, tied with social media.
• A piece of mail gets opened 90% of the time versus 20-30% of emails being opened.
• 2% of mail received is either read or glanced at by the recipient.
• A mail piece is usually held onto for about two weeks before it is thrown away. This gives plenty of time for a direct mail piece to be looked at.
• Direct Mail recipients purchased and spent 28% more than people who did not receive that direct mail piece, based on USPS.

Do you know that size does matter when mailing?  Based on Data & Marketing Association:

• Oversized mail pieces have the highest response rate of up to 5%.
• Letter size response rate is 3.5%.
• The response rate for a direct mail piece is up to nine times higher than that of an email.

Direct mail is considered a more trusted form for marketing versus email, which is seen as quick and informal.

• A direct mail piece addressed to an individual at a company is still delivered if the recipient has moved on, while an email is bounced back.
• Direct mail does not get caught in spam filters.
• Many people feel they receive too many emails.

We are not saying do away with email campaigns.  We urge you to combine direct mail and email with technology.  Place a QR code on the mail piece directing the recipient to the offer, and you will see amazing results!

Contact us to discuss your marketing campaigns.

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