What Is GDPR Compliance and Why Is It Important?

With the advancement in technology and the use of digital communication channels, there has been an increased risk of personal data being stolen or breached. Most businesses have digital platforms in which they collect, analyze and store data. But, these processes have led to several demands like offering privacy protection. If your business doesn't assure its customers that their data is safe, they'll likely not shop from or enlist your services. One of the frameworks that have been established to address data-related issues is GDPR.

Read on to learn more about it and whether it applies to your business.

What Is The GDPR?

The Great Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted in April 2016 by the European Parliament. It's a new set of regulations designed to give European consumers more control over their personal data, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and IP addresses. It comes with specific guidelines that businesses need to follow to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens for any transaction that occurs within or outside an EU member state.

Legibility to Be A GDPR Compliant

The GDPR states that all websites must protect website visitor's confidential information. This simply means that sites owners must:

  • Let visitors know when individual details are gathered and stored
  • Provide details on how collected information will be utilized
  • Be capable of deleting all the information collected from website traffic, if requested.

How Do Companies Ensure Compliance?

GDPR Compliance requires a company to observe legal regulations when collecting personal data and protect it from being misused. These key requirements include:

#1. Privacy Rights- GDPR gives consumers the right to see what type of data a company has, how they're handling and using it. As such, it's easy for a person to correct, update or delete data that an organization has about them. Plus, companies must honor a client's request within one month, and there are only limited grounds that their request can be denied.

#2. Security of Data- GDPR mandates companies to prioritize personal data protection after collecting, processing, and storing it. They are encouraged to use data encryption whenever feasible. They are also required to design internal security policies and processes of how to handle sensitive data.

#3. Accountability- GDPR directs companies to choose a person liable for their compliance. Enterprises are mandated to have a Data Protection Officer who acts as a public authority and monitors individuals' activities.

#4. Lawfulness and Transparency- GDPR mandates companies to justify all their data processing. Organizations processing a high volume of data or those with at least 250 employees are required to conduct a Privacy Impact Analysis to determine which types of data they process and their purposes. Plus, they also need to disclose the person who accesses that data, how they're protecting it, and how long they will have it before deleting it.

Should Companies Comply with GDPR?

GDPR offers protection to web data, including special category data like political opinions and racial data as well as personal data. As it has various advantages, GDPR compliance has been accepted by the industry giants. If you run a business, you should ensure that you've complied with this framework. Failure to do so puts you at risk of paying penalties and fines according to Article 83(5) of GDPR.



Contact us today if you need help with GDPR compliance!

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