To start with, the GDPR stands for the General Data Protection Regulation. It means a regulation in European law which is connected with data protection and privacy and is created for all individuals within the European Union. The main purpose of the GDPR is giving control back to every citizen and resident over his or her personal data. It also aims at simplifying the regulatory environment for international business. The GDPR was first adopted on 27 April 2016. But it will become enforceable only from 25 May 2018 because of a two-year transition period.
Which issues does it solve
Nowadays there is a great problem which is related to protection of people`s personal data. Both the Internet and the cloud give a lot of various organizations the opportunity to use and very often abuse the data of people without their permission. However, the GDPR wants and can solve this problem. So the first reason why the GDPR was created is the necessity to rectify data protection law paying attention also to how people’s data is being used. Because a great number of huge firms including Google, Twitter, and Facebook abuse the data of their users offering services for free in exchange for their personal data.
The next reason for creating this legal framework is giving organizations clearer understanding of the legal environment which will dictate them how they must behave. Consequently, the companies will be fined severely due to the rules of GDPR regulations in the case they cannot ensure IT security at a high level and cannot provide people with protecting their personal data.
GDPR compliance is full sticking to the rules of GDPR regulations by companies. If a company chooses non-compliance, it can get significant administrative fines. By the way, there are some steps which can help your organization decide what should be done in order not to be fined.
What to do
First of all, you should be aware of what is going on. You should know all details about GDPR. Secondly, you must become more accountable and examine all the personal data your company holds (for example sharing it with third parties). Thirdly, check personal privacy rights. Also, the staff and service users should be informed about their rights. It is important to point out that your organization should also prove that it has the legal ground for processing data. And finally, there some other actions which should be done, such as:
- adopting a privacy-by-design approach,
- planning for data breaches,
- appointing a data protection officer,
- researching child consent policies,
- changing your consent requests.