A Higher Standard of Data Privacy: Why All Companies Need to Pay Attention to GDPR

The EU General Data Protection Regulation is on the cusp of going into effect, whether you're ready or not. In less than a year, GDPR will set a higher standard for data privacy, impacting companies both inside and outside the European Union. But what does this regulation have in store for companies and what does your organization need to prepare? Let's take a look:

A wider scope

The main purpose of GDPR is to ensure the privacy and protection of data for every citizen in the EU. With rising use of customer data for enterprise analysis and other corporate pursuits alongside increasing threats from cybercriminals and malicious actors, GDPR is a necessary change to support the proper and secure use of sensitive, personal information.

One of the biggest changes with GDPR is that it impacts every organization that uses the personal information of people who live in the EU. Let's make this perfectly clear - this means that if your company gathers and/or analyzes data belonging to EU customers, you're beholden to the new rules of GDPR, and non-compliance can result in serious fines. 

In this way, American businesses must pay attention and ensure GDPR compliance as well. Let's take a look at a few common examples where GDPR comes into play for U.S. organizations:

• If a European traveler uses an ATM belonging to a U.S.-based regional bank or credit union, the financial institution must be compliant in order to protect the EU citizen's privacy in accordance with GDPR.
• Compliance extends to online retailers as well. Even vendors that primarily do business in the U.S. must follow the guidelines of GDPR so that if an EU citizen uses the site, the organization can ensure data security. 

Data subject rights: From the point of view of customers

It's also important to understand the rights GDPR lay down for data subjects. Under the regulation, EU citizens have the right to know whether or not their personal information is being used by companies or other entities and for what purpose. Individuals also have the right of Data Erasure - the right to be forgotten - enabling them to stop dissemination or processing if they see fit. Citizens can transmit their data to another organization, and they also have the right to be notified within 72 hours of a data breach.

While these new rules may require more staunch processes for data handling and notification on the part of businesses, it can be helpful to understand these changes from a customer's point of view. Imagine you're a customer and you find out that your preferred organization has been breached. Under GDPR, you will be made aware of the breach within three days of the company finding out. You're able to confirm with the business exactly what information they were using and why, and you can also use your right of data portability to transmit your data to another trustworthy provider.

Regulations like this are becoming increasingly critical as successful attacks continue to impact large businesses and their clients. The Equifax breach, for instance, impacted 143 million consumers when the company was breached, and hackers stole customer names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and other details. With a high risk for fraudulent activity, rules like those of GDPR could help ensure that affected individuals are notified quickly and can transmit their personal details to another service provider to support their security. 

From a consumer perspective, GDPR provides more privacy and control over personal information.

What's needed: Knowledgeable, compliant solution partner

Typically, when an organization is collecting and analyzing customer data, it will have IT solutions in place to help with this process. Under the new rules of GDPR, your company's solution providers must also be compliant. New research shows that this might be a problem for some - researchers found that less than a quarter of cloud services in use fully align with the high standards of GDPR.

To ensure your compliance and the data privacy of EU citizens, you need an expert solution partner that understands the requirements of GDPR. In these respects, we're proud to provide the Unifi Compliance Data Hub, which can reduce compliance risks by monitoring and analyzing for suspicious activity, fraud and data governance as it relates to regulations including GDPR.

The 2018 deadline for GDPR is coming up fast, and your business needs to be ready