A year ago, new legislation came into force to drive big changes in the way businesses of all sizes manage personal information.
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) were designed to ensure greater transparency for consumers and improve trust.
They brought tighter controls over how data is processed and used, and the rights of those about whom data is processed. They also introduced greater penalties for organisations not protecting data, failing to comply with the rules or allowing personal data to be accessed by third parties, including hackers.
What does GDPR mean for my business?
Previous data protection legislation was drawn-up in the 1990s, at a time when smartphones, search engines and social media didn’t exist. Businesses are now in possession of more customer information than ever before.
The changes introduced by GDPR were intended to harmonise data protection laws across the EU, reflect increased use of technology and the internet, and provide data subjects with improved rights and greater transparency about the way information is managed.
Evaluating the potential impact of GDPR on your business, implementing the necessary changes to your processes and IT systems, and training your staff takes time.
While many businesses got ahead of the curve, one year on, others still haven’t taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
However, if your business is found to be in breach of the legislation, the maximum fine for noncompliance could be 20m euros, or four per cent of your annual global turnover.
Quiet Storm’s response
In response, we have developed a solution to help you remain fully compliant with GDPR legislation.
The management tool is available via an intuitive online portal, helping you to easily monitor and manage GDPR-related data requests, to ensure you don’t fall foul of the new laws.
Steve Megson, our Managing Director, said: “While GDPR hasn’t led to the doomsday scenario that many were predicted ahead of its implementation, a year on there is still a lot of misunderstanding among businesses about what it means to them.
“Our GDPR solution is a simple online tool that enables businesses to manage their data requests, privacy, cookie and data protection requirements easily, for complete peace of mind.”