GDPR – What It Means & How It Affects Your Business

Much like other business, WebWorksWell works hard to ensure that everything upholds to the latest guidelines and GDPR is no different. While there was an element of the unknown when it was first announced, we believe that it doesn’t feel as ominous as it once was and we’re here to give you the quick run down on what GDPR is, how it could affect you and how we uphold it.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which came into effect in May 2018. It sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information within the European Union and was introduced with a view to reflect the increasingly data driven world that we are living in now.Their main aims include giving people more control of their personal data and unifying regulations across the European Union in order to simplify things for international businesses.

It’s important to bear in mind that the GDPR applies to any business established in the EU and may apply to companies based outside of the EU that process the personal data of EU citizens in certain circumstances. GDPR applies to any European citizen, thus GDPR currently still applies despite the decision of ‘Brexit’.

Compliance:

Personal information is your own so businesses should respect that by handling it transparently and responsibly. Businesses should send out an email asking people to opt-in again to their services and assume that if there is no reply, personal data should be wiped from the system.

If your business is handling a large amount of consumer data then GDPR will have a greater effect on your business than a business with less consumer data. In order to have a greater control and understanding on whether your business is GDPR compliant, larger businesses are required to have a data protection officer in order to handle the significant amount of data. Meanwhile, smaller businesses, while not requiring a data protection officer, still need an individual who is responsible for the business’ data protection and privacy as well as act as a point of contact.

Penalties To Infringing GDPR:

The data protection act prior to GDPR has been and is still in effect and thus businesses have been penalised for infringing on the act. The following statements are consequences that can occur as a penalty for infringing on the GDPR:

-Maximum fines of £500,000
-Prosecutions, including prison sentences for deliberate breaches
-Obligatory undertakings, where your company has to commit to specific action to improve compliance.
-Businesses in breach are liable to a dramatic increase in fines, with penalties reaching an upper limit of €20 million or four per cent of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

What We Do At WebWorksWell:

WebWorksWell handles GDPR to the best of our ability. In our newsletters, which are sent out on a weekly basis, there will always be an unsubscribe button; this respects the ‘right to be forgotten’ aspect of GDPR, enabling readers to opt-out of our weekly e-newsletters whenever they wish. We are more than happy to state the data we store in regards to an individual or the business in whcih they are associated with and we will remove a person’s personal information from any of of our systems upon their request.

ICO has more info about GDPR here. If you have any queries, make sure to read more about it.

We hope that you have found this blog about GDPR, a topic relevant to all businesses, how it can affect your business, its penalties and tips on dealing with it to be useful.