GDPR: What It Is and Why Your Business Needs to Comply
If you're based in the EU or deal with EU residents, you've probably heard of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation, which came into force in May 2018, promotes a dramatic change in the way businesses handle and process personal data.
GDPR aims to unify and strengthen the protection of personal data for EU citizens, give EU residents greater control of how their data is stored and used, and control how personal data is exported outside the EU. Everything about GDPR boils down to these three guiding principles.
Personal data can be anything from name and address to race, religion, social media posts, or even genetic and biometric data. Making sure businesses use personal data in the right way is the crux of GDPR.
GDPR replaces older legislation and goes beyond them in a few important ways. Compliance is mandatory for all businesses based in the EU or dealing with EU residents. It harmonizes various sets of legislation into a single framework, including the export of personal data beyond, as well as within, the EU.
Non-compliance with GDPR carries some serious financial penalties, with fines of up to £17.5m (€20m) or 4% of annual turnover, whichever is greater, levied on companies not managing personal data properly. Personal data must be processed transparently and lawfully, collected for legitimate purposes, relevant and necessary, up-to-date and accurate, stored only if necessary, and secure and confidential.
Every business with ties to the EU will be affected by GDPR. This includes British businesses, even though the UK has left the EU. Every company must now have a data protection officer (DPO), who will be the main gatekeeper of GDPR, with tasks like monitoring compliance, cooperating with data protection authorities, and informing and auditing colleagues.
GDPR is the biggest overhaul of data protection regulation in twenty years. As a business owner, complying with GDPR will build customer trust, strengthen your reputation and image, and evade financial penalties.
Why GDPR compliance is important
There's no way of avoiding GDPR and it has a potentially worldwide reach. A single legislative framework simplifies compliance: nail GDPR, and your business has a compliant data management system that will:
- Build customer trust.
- Strengthen reputation and image.
- Evade financial penalties.
What GDPR sets out to do
Unify and strengthen the protection of personal data for EU citizens. Give EU residents greater control of how their data is stored and used. Control how personal data is exported outside the EU.
How can Swift Reception help with GDPR Compliance?
Take a look at our GDPR statement at SwiftReception.com/gdpr to see how we can help your business comply with GDPR.
