What is Shadow IT?
Shadow IT refers to technology systems, applications, and cloud services used within an organization without formal IT department approval or oversight.
Shadow IT encompasses any technology—cloud services, SaaS applications, mobile apps, or devices—adopted by employees or departments without going through official IT procurement and approval processes. Shadow IT creates significant privacy risk because personal data may be processed in systems unknown to the privacy team, without appropriate security measures or data processing agreements.
DiscoverIQ helps identify shadow IT by scanning network traffic and cloud configurations to detect unauthorized services processing personal data. This visibility is essential for maintaining accurate data inventories and ensuring all personal data processing is governed by appropriate privacy controls.
Relevant Regulations
How IQWorks Helps
Related Terms
Dark Data
Dark data is information collected and stored by an organization but never analyzed, used, or leveraged, often containing personal data that creates unmanaged privacy risk.
Data Discovery
Data discovery is the automated process of identifying and cataloging personal data across an organization technology landscape, including databases, file systems, cloud storage, and SaaS applications.
Cloud Data Protection
Cloud data protection encompasses the policies, technologies, and controls used to protect personal data stored and processed in cloud computing environments.
Data Governance
Data governance is the overall management of data availability, usability, integrity, and security within an organization, establishing policies, procedures, and accountability for data management.