Why Businesses Need to Take GDPR Seriously

Why Take GDPR seriously? Because it has everything to do with the way your business communicates with it’s customers and how your customers data is used.

Why Businesses Need to Take GDPR Seriously

For some time now, businesses across Europe have had to adjust and prepare for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. This is a major change in the way that data is handled and dealt with online, and has in many ways changed a lot of the practices around data protection, usage, and provision moving forward. If you run a business, you need to grow to understand GDPR as it is a major part of keeping data for any business either in or dealing with EU citizens.

What is the GDPR?

GDPR, then, is the latest set of data protection regulations brought forward by the EU. It is a massive, wholesale change in the way that we handle data about businesses. In many ways, it has transformed how we communicate with people, and how we use their data in business.

As many people will know, data privacy has been a huge topic of public concern for some time now. It’s hard to overstate just how important data privacy is as a topic. GDPR tries to put in place some form of protective legislation, which will work towards changing, transforming, and rebuilding how we collect data. The days of being able to just assume consent, and be vague about how data will be used, are over.

Why is GDPR Important To My Business?

GDPR is vital to any modern business for quite a few years, but mostly because you could be at risk of being fined if you do not play by the rules. GDPR is changing everything about how we store and use data. It is a major part of modern business, and it is going to become arguably the largest change to data management since the turn of the millennium.

GDPR is important, though, because your business must follow its laid out practices immediately. If you wish to either be based in the EU, or do business with any EU citizen, you must be GDPR compliant. Otherwise, your business would do well to geographically block any access from EU citizens to your content. A failure to meet GDPR regulation will see you censored, then potentially fined a huge sum of money. Fines could reach into the millions of Euros, so it is best to be fully prepared for GDPR.

With it arriving in May 2018, too, the time for leeway has long gone. Now, you must be GDPR compliant or face issues from the EU.

The Protection and Security of the Data You Hold is Paramount

The first thing that you need to remember is that the protection and security of data is the major part of GDPR that matters. When you pay attention to the use of confidential data now, GDPR has more or less changed the entire parameters. Confidential data now must be secured and used only for the purposes which were explicitly given and agreed upon by the holder of the data.

GDPR expects that you will be capable and willing to secure all data and keep it as safe as is possible. You will be expected to make all data secure – data about people, suppliers, staff, partners. Everything. You cannot hold back anything with GDPR; it must be entirely protected, and it must be given total priority when it comes to improving business safety and privacy practices.

This is a major part of why GDPR is now in place – it’s to help make sure that the data you hold is secured in the safest manner.

Providing online access to personal data

Alongside other changes you will be expected to give people full access to their own private data.Aaccording to betipy, failure to do so can be quite stressful for your business, as it would see you fail GDPR regulations immediately and thus be liable for a fine. Make sure that you have a system that allows anyone on your database to request all of the information that you hold on them without delay.

This is a big part of GDPR; those who you have data on must be given permission to come and see that data themselves. That’s a factor that many people forget about, but is essential to meeting GDP regulations.

GDPR infographic

You May Need to Change Some Core Operational Processes

The challenge for your business is that you will now need to start making some key changes to the way that your business operates. You will have to bring in some new protections for data privacy, and may have to bring in a member of staff to help make these structural changes possible. It will be important for you to take things back to the ground floor and build the entire system back up.

You will also need to take into account the importance of creating new content, such as fresh privacy policies and data protection regulations. You have to show that you have adjusted to meet GDPR expectations, or your business could potentially suffer in the long-term.

It Will Inspire Trust and Confidence

However, while GDPR might sound like a headache now, it is going to be hugely beneficial in the long run. It will inspire people to see your business as an ethical business that they can trust and do business with without having worry about negative consequences.

GDPR is going to be essential if you wish to have the trust of the EU public. This is why you should not disregard the importance of following EU directives on GDPR. It will show that you handle data in a sensitive manner, encouraging people to use your site and to trust you’ll use their data correctly.

Updates to your Privacy Policy

One thing that you need to look at as a matter of massive importance is updating all of your privacy notices and policies. Many people do not do this, or have not began the process of doing so. Every privacy policy and notice that you have should be able to clearly and fully set out the entire legal basis for the usage of your personal data.

It should be rebuilt to make sure that nothing is ticked to begin with, and that you are giving people the opportunity to opt out of all of the features of your privacy policy. This is very important, as many people are still offering privacy policies which are pre-ticked, and ask for information that you now have no right to hold. Your privacy policy must be unambiguous about what it asks for, why it is being asked for, and how you will go about using it as time goes on, making your life much easier.

GDPR will bridge silos

Finally, another interesting part of GDPR is that it will now be capable of bridging silos. This is important, as it will make sure that you have to take more of an active role in how your IT department is managing all of your wider systems and networks. You will have to understand what your IT team want to build, so that you can then put together the business in the most effective way.

GDPR will make sure that you can work with your IT department to ensure that all vulnerabilities are dealt with, making sure you are fully GDPR-compliant whilst having a strong, successful, modern, and robust IT department.