GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, is a sweeping European privacy law that governs how companies handle personal data of EU citizens, imposing stringent rules on data collection, storage, and processing.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), approved in April 2016 after four years of preparations and debates, is set to transform the way organisations handle personal data within the European Union (EU) and beyond. This regulatory framework, enforced from the 25th May, 2018, aims to give citizens control over their data, create an easy and flexible environment for businesses, and maintain data protection law throughout the single market.
GDPR applies to all organisations within the EU, as well as those offering goods and services to customers in the EU. It is applicable to individuals and businesses across the entire European Union. The key requirements of the GDPR for organisations include:
- Lawful, Fair, and Transparent Processing: Organisations must collect and process personal data fairly, securely, and lawfully, only for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes, and inform individuals transparently about how their data is handled.
- Data Minimization and Purpose Limitation: Data collected must be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the intended purpose, with no incompatible further processing.
- Data Protection by Design and Default: Organisations must integrate data protection principles into the design and operation of systems, products, and services from the outset.
- Data Subject Rights: Organisations must enable individuals to exercise their rights, such as access, rectification, erasure, and data portability over their personal data.
- Lawful Basis for Processing and Consent: Consent must be obtained where required (notably parental consent for children under 16, subject to national variations), and other legal bases must be clearly established.
- Data Breach Notification: Organisations must notify the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach, and inform affected individuals if the breach poses a high risk to their rights and freedoms.
- Appointment of Data Protection Officers (DPOs): Public bodies and organisations processing large-scale or sensitive data must appoint an independent DPO to oversee compliance.
- Privacy Impact Assessments (DPIAs): High-risk data processing activities require prior assessment to identify and mitigate risks to individuals’ privacy rights.
- Accountability and Documentation: Organisations must maintain records of data processing activities, have documented policies and procedures, and regularly assess GDPR compliance.
- International Data Transfers: Transfers of personal data outside the EU/EEA require adequate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions, ensuring an equivalent level of protection.
Organisations face significant financial penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover for non-compliance, as well as potential legal, reputational, and operational impacts given the strict enforcement by supervisory authorities. Recent reforms propose easing some obligations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as raising thresholds for maintaining records of processing activities to reduce compliance burdens.
In conclusion, GDPR establishes a comprehensive, risk-based data protection framework requiring organisations to embed privacy protections into all aspects of their data processing to safeguard individual rights within the EU. With the increasing use of data collection and analysis in many services, the need for stronger data protection legislation, such as GDPR, has never been more crucial.
- To achieve compliance with GDPR, organizations must integrate data protection principles into their coding practices when designing systems, products, and services, following the rule of 'Data Protection by Design and Default.'
- In the rapidly evolving tech landscape, where data-and-cloud-computing and coding technologies play a significant role, GDPR serves as a vital guide for businesses operating within the European Union, ensuring the protection of individual data and maintaining a level of trust in technology.
