What is GDPR? We’re answering the real questions.
Why GDPR?
From a business perspective, data is now more profitable than oil. That’s a terrific, and terrifying, realisation, but you need only look at the success of Facebook to understand how true it is. With data being such big business across the world, it stands to reason that the transfer, processing, collection, and utilisation of information needs to be regulated, supervised, and monitored.
Definition
While it appears onerous to many business people, the regulations and implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) seek to serve a single purpose: to protect the information and privacy of individual citizens within the European Union and the European Economic Area. The GDPR exists to put individuals in direct control of their personal data and therefore governs every process relating to any type of personal data.
Again, from a business perspective, that’s nearly every piece of information out there.
Implementation
As the core operational regulations for enabling and securing digital privacy affecting all EU regions, the GDPR goes far beyond just being applicable to the EU. Instead, GDPR affects every country – for every country, company, and a person who interacts with, utilises services from or even looks at a website that’s hosted in the EU, GDPR means something. The implementation of the GDPR forced businesses, big and small, to comply with its regulatory framework, making GDPR compliance, not just a nice to have, but a business essential.
GDPR and Your Business
By setting a standard for data collection, storage, and utilisation, across the EU, the GDPR has created common, robust methodologies. In the long term, the GDPR simplifies business processes, while working to ensure personal privacy, the security of data, and enabling safe online activities. But, ensuring your business is GDPR compliant may seem onerous. Ensuring your business remains GDPR compliant is an ongoing task too, so hiring an expert GDPR consultant may make your life a whole bunch easier. Collaborating with a GDPR compliance partner will save your business time, money, and a whole bunch of stress.
GDPR Compliance
To ensure your business adopts good GDPR compliance mechanisms, and every data process is legislatively robust, we recommend:
- A comprehensive audit: A full assessment and audit of your business’ data practices, from end to end.
- Minding the gaps: We’ve yet to find a business that was fully compliant, off the bat. The gaps between theory and practice are often larger than you realise, but they can be closed.
- Finding the most reliable route: Yes, the distance between two points is often a straight line. Sourcing and hiring a GDPR consultant who knows their stuff, and can back up your data processes with technology, is your most reliable route.
- Keeping up with the monitoring: Constant monitoring and compliance checks are essential.
GDPR Help
That’s why we’ve made GDPR compliance a priority at ProPrivacy. We help businesses, big and small, not only become GDPR compliant but stay that way too. Start chatting to our team about your GDPR compliance needs.
Philipa is the lead consultant and auditor at ProPrivacy. With clients as far afield as Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Germany, Spain and other such exotic locations, besides Cork and elsewhere in Ireland, Philipa enjoys a broad view of the state of data protection, privacy and cyber security worldwide. Philipa’s passion is manageable data compliance for SMEs.
Philipa is a qualified teacher besides holding a computer science (Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence Programming) and electronic and intellectual property law (LLB) qualified. She is trained in constitutional (fundamental) rights litigation and enjoys a good debate.
Philipa has over twenty years of experience working in different sized organisations and sectors on operational, governance, risk management and compliance matters. She is an analytical and focused person that enjoys a challenge in the workplace. She loves technology, systems and people and has a passion for showing people how technology can make life easier and better. She understands that the world is driven by data today but privacy is paramount. Responsibly developed AI excites Philipa for the future.