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Seven things you didn ’ t know about … the GDPR
Let ’ s be honest , many businesses who have even heard of the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) are in the dark about how it will actually affect them . This month , we use our ‘ Seven Things ’ feature to give you seven valuable tips on how to navigate this mighty piece of legislation .
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IN SHORT , GDPR IS A MASSIVE overhaul of European data regulations . It reforms rules set out before popular use of the internet , before smartphones were invented , and before digital data became essential in life .
Organisations have been given a two-year lead-in period to become compliant , ending May 25 , 2018 .
Richard Poole is chief technology officer of EMEA , harmon – a business which drives information compliance by ‘ making the right thing the easy thing to do .’ Here , Richard outlines seven steps for getting your organization GDPR-ready :
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While the EU has had long established data protection standards and rules , its regulators haven ’ t truly commanded compliance until now . Under the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ), financial penalties for data protection violations are severe – € 20 million ( about $ 24.8 million USD ) or 4 percent of annual global turnover ( whichever is higher ), to be exact .
What ’ s more is that GDPR does not merely apply to EU businesses , but any organization processing personal data of EU citizens , regardless of location . That said , organizations need to take real steps to improve how they collect and manage data .
At its core , GDPR compliance is about following sensible information management practices . However , oftentimes , business users do not follow their organization ’ s information governance policies , whether it ’ s because storing content in these platforms is tedious or simple ignorance of the rules . Compliance with the GDPR will therefore require practical steps which both improve employee awareness and the practices that make it more likely people will follow the rules .
But doing this is easier said than done , and business leaders need practical , actionable strategies that they can implement to meet the new requirements . Here are seven steps to help organizations improve data management and close the GDPR compliance gap .
1 . GET EXPLICIT CUSTOMER CONSENT
From fitness apps to online checkouts and contracts , companies are collecting more consumer data than ever before . Under GDPR , be clear about what information you ’ re collecting and how it will be used , and have a legal document in place that clearly outlines both . Another option is to only collect data you need – if you don ’ t need to know a person ’ s ethnicity for a specific reason , consider eliminating those prompts on your website .
2 . CENTRALIZE DATA STORAGE As far as possible , you should unify your central content repository . Aim to store all personal customer data in one environment , or connect on-premises and cloud deployments . If this is not possible , make sure that departments have one single space for storing data . Eliminate shadow IT and train all staff to be compliant with these practices .
20 » MAR 2018 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM