Put simply, GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations. It’s a law that was passed in the European Union that says is that companies must let you know about data breaches and if your data was compromised. It is the company’s duty to safeguard your info. As of May 25th, 2018, all European Union member countries must comply with these regulations.
GDPR establishes one law across the whole continent of Europe with a single set of rules for all the countries to follow. It seems simple on paper but with so many different countries and languages, implementing this will actually take some time. Not only does it affect businesses in Europe, but a company doing business with any member of the European Union must also comply with these laws.
How To Comply With The Policies
There are a lot of new regulations regarding the use, misuse and protection of personal data. Not only do these affect Europe any business that has customers in Europe and it will begin a new phase of data globalization.
Here is how to be in compliance with GDPR.
1. Breach Notification.
If there is the slightest bit of security breach, even if it’s just a user’s email address, the company must send out a notification. The notification must be sent to the affected individual and it must show what exactly was breached.
2. The Right To Be Forgotten.
Let’s say you want to unsubscribe from an online newsletter. Once you decide to unsubscribe that newsletter must erase all of your information. Before this regulation many companies could hold on to your info, putting it at risk. The most important part of the GDPR is the user’s control of their data.
Your Company Needs to Protect Your Customers’ Data
Your company cannot use any information about a data subject outside of what is necessary. For any other reason, the data subject must be contacted and their consent must be given. You cannot take someone’s information and use it for illegitimate purposes.
Your company must create stronger security measures for data protection. Servers must be up to date with security. Your company should employ a data protection officer to monitor your security system and detect any possible leak. The protection of personal data is the most important.
This means you need to have serious encryptions going on. There is a lot of encryption software being developed every day. The right encryption will not only keep your customers safe, but it will also keep your employees safe as well.
Who is Affected by The New Laws?
Beyond the European market, the GDPR is sure to have global shockwaves. Already GDPR has taken effect on not only the EU and US but Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Switzerland, Andora, Isle of Man and Uruguay. These are third-party countries that the GDPR commision deemed secure to have data transfers.
In order to do business other countries will have to adapt or lose out on a huge chunk of the global market. If the countries are unsecure they will not be able to participate. I believe that more countries will begin to integrate similar policies.
The Penalties Associated With Non-Compliance
One of the biggest impacts that the GDPR has, is that it will inflict severe penalties on companies who do not play along. Any company and country in the EU that does not follow the GDPR guidelines will have to suffer sanctions. Any failure to report a data breach or mishandling user data can cause a company to lose billions.
The actual penalty for failure to report a data breach is 4 billion Euros or 4% of total profits whichever would be more. That’s 4.5 billion in US currency. These regulations are serious because of the surge of hacking because companies refusing to take proper security steps.
Contact Us Today
OCR offers scanners and software technology that is GDPR compliant. You can use our systems in place with your other protocol to keep your business safe. Please contact us if you have any questions about our scanners and how they will help your business.
