GDPR – It is the four-letter word that brought about a huge change on 14th of April 2016 & became enforced on 25th May 2018. It was in Jan 2012 when the EU Commission began plans for data protection reform over & across the European Union to create Europe ‘fit for the digital age’.

WHAT IS GDPR & ALL THE HYPE AROUND IT?

Ever since its approval on 14th of April 2016, GDPR has been causing anxiety among professionals in the field of data protection, data marketing, and security. GDPR served as a stimulant for many investments of millions of dollars to achieve compliance on 25th May 2018.

General data protection regulation is the set of requirement that’s set forth by the European Union Parliament to give citizens more control over their data. Its objective is to simplify the restrictive environment for business to protect the citizens from privacy & data breaches and to ensure that both citizens and businesses in the EU can benefit from the digital economy.

The reforms are crafted to match the world we’re living in today, which has become frequently threatened with the advancement of malware, data-breaches, cyber-security & hacking activity. GDPR lays out a protracted list of needs that are to be complied by organisations to make sure that the personal data is collected lawfully under strict conditions and those who gather & manage it will be compelled to protect it from misuse & exploitation or face penalties for not doing so.

TO WHOM DOES THE GDPR APPLY?

Before going berserk on GDPR- first ask yourself, whether & to what extent GDPR applies to you. The concept of GDPR will apply to you if your organisation is acknowledged within the EU, you are handling data on individuals in the EU with whom you want to do business or if you are tracking the behaviour of individuals in the EU. This merely states that all major organisations across the globe must be GDPR compliant or risk penalties.

There are 2 distinct sorts of data-handlers the GDPR applies to- Data Controllers and Processors.

Data controllers are the people, public authority, agency or other bodies that, alone or collectively with others who supervise answerable for gathering personal data. It’s important for you to understand whether these regulations apply to your organisation as a whole, as these data controllers come with great legal responsibilities.

Data processors are people, public authorities, agencies or other bodies which, alone or jointly with others who process personal data on behalf of the controller. Examples include accounting or payroll management companies.

The distinction is vital because, under GDPR, a controller will hold most of the liability if the organization experiences a breach while the responsibility of the processor is making sure that all the controller’s work is GDPR compliant.

GDPR

At the core of GDPR lies the concept of personally-identifying information & any personal data, which is defined as “information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ‘data subject’,” is in the extent of the regulation. But GDPR does not apply to data that “does not relate to an identified or identifiable natural person or to data rendered anonymous in such a way that the data subject is no longer identifiable.”

Even though Pseudonymization is recommended it shouldn’t be used to split up identifiers from the data. Subjects regarding privately identifiable information to avoid different commitments. What marketers should keep in mind is that pseudonymized information comes under GDPR and it is meant for decreasing the risk of the data subject, not some inside trick to bypass other rules.

GDPR IMPACT ON CUSTOMERS?

Much of the focus has been on how GDPR will be influencing businesses but the new regulation is also crafted to have a big impact on consumers, especially in terms with improving the customer journey. Since winning the client experience goes to determine the winners of the longer term, data is the main weapon of the battleground & GDPR is the perfect opportunity for organisations to rethink their data approach & the enhanced customer relationships & experience it allows.

By obliging with GDPR, organisations will need to better understand what data they hold, why they hold it, how they gained permission for it & whom they are sharing the information with. They also need to ensure that they are being upfront while communicating regarding this with customers, as well as granting individuals the chance to manage their data.

GDPR RIGHTS

GDPR has classified eight basic rights for European citizens that are:

1) The right to be informed

2) The right of access

3) The right of rectification

4) The right to erasure

5) The right to restrict processing

6) The right to data portability

7) The right to object

8) Rights of automated decision making and profiling

So what is it going to be since GDPR Is Already Here?

GDPR is already in force, seeing a rush in organisations sending emails to their customers requesting them to opt-in to new privacy and consent policies. Perhaps the greatest changes with the impact of GDPR are the restrictions concerning the transfer of data to countries outside the EU.

ServeIT Data is dedicated to GDPR compliance and our database will satisfy all personal data privacy requirements. We also recommend that associates & customers who use, process or control the personal data of individuals within the EU prepare for GDPR. Pseudonymization