DealersCircle successfully completes type 1 SOC 2 audit

DealersCircle successfully completes type 1 SOC 2 audit © DealersCircle

DealersCircle, Inc. - the innovative, web-based marine industry provider that conveniently links the manufacturer, dealer and customer together with its state-of-the-art software application -successfully completed a Type 1 System and Organizational Controls (SOC) 2 audit in December of 2022 via A-LIGN, an independent technology enabled security and compliance partner.

SOC is a framework developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for the purpose of providing regular, independent attestation of the controls that a company has implemented to mitigate information-related risk.

DealersCircle made the decision to invest a substantial amount of time and resources into the independent audit for SOC 2 in order to provide their clients and prospects the utmost confidence in their commitment to protect their data assets. A noteworthy benefit of the SOC 2 audit completion is better positioning their clients to comply with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Safeguards Rule and its associated regulations for protecting consumer information and privacy that goes into effect on June 9th of this year.

"Because dealers in the industry now fall under 'financial institutions' per the FTC, we felt our responsibility to the over 1700 dealers and 34 OEMs we currently represent went beyond the new Safeguards Rule requirements. We wanted to provide them the confidence that we've taken the necessary steps ahead of the deadline to do everything we can to ensure their assets are protected by our processes, procedures and technology," said DealersCircle President Scott Davis.

"Having a successful Type 1 SOC 2 audit completed by an outside third party goes above and beyond what was necessary, but we felt it to be in the best interest of our dealer partners and the manufacturers we represent to do just that. SOC 2 covers more than just FTC Safeguards Rule requirements and will further prove we're taking every step to ensure client data protection," he added.

While the FTC Safeguards Rule has been in effect since 2003, and was amended in 2021, the previous impending deadline of the new requirements of December 9th, 2022 was extended six months to June 9th, 2023.

"Because of the sensitive data that dealers collect from their customers, The FTC Safeguards Rule does apply to all of them and will need to be adhered to by the impending deadline," Davis emphasized. "Even if you have another dealer system currently in place such as an internal portal, dealers and manufacturers alike need to be aware of the importance of, and have the confidence in, the system they're using not only meeting these new requirements but also continuing to stay ahead of these and future requirements. Consumer data protection, security and privacy requirements will only get tighter as we move into the future."

DealersCircle has provided product manufacturers and their dealers a convenient way to simplify custom product ordering, product lifecycle tracking, service communications, warranty claims management, parts ordering, reporting, integration with external systems and much more with its revolutionary web-based application for nearly two decades.

For more information on DealersCircle, visit www.dealerscircle.com; or contact Mark Jerkins at Tinsley Creative, email: mark@tinsleycreative.com; phone: 863.583.0081.

For more information on the FTC Safeguards Rule, visit here.