Does your business do business with customers in the European Union (EU)? If so, there’s an important privacy law you might need to follow, even if you’re based in the U.S. It’s called GDPR and compliance is mandatory.
What does it mean to be GDPR compliant? More importantly, what does it mean for your business? Here is a quick GDPR guide to help answer those questions.
What Does it mean to be GDPR Compliant?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It’s an EU law that’s meant to protect how electronic data and private information of people is collected, used, and secured.
What is the Purpose of GDPR Regulations?
Thanks to technology, a great deal of your information is stored electronically these days. Your financial information, identification numbers, medical information, and more are all saved on computers and physical or cloud-based server solutions. Plus, you pay bills, buy products, and enter all kinds of personal information online every day.
Companies collect and store this information. In some cases, the information is used to serve your needs better. Some companies sell the collected information to third parties or marketing research firms.
GDPR aims to put more control of how that information is collected, used, and stored into the hands of EU citizens.
What Does GDPR Cover?
GDPR applies to anything that can be considered personal data. This information may include:
- Your name
- Email address
- Banking or other financial information
- Medical information
- Location details
- Updates on social media networks
- Photos
- Computer IP address
Personal data is considered the same, whether it is based on private, public, or work-related roles.
Eight Rights of GDPR
GDPR lays out eight rights afforded to individuals. Again, these rights apply whether the information is collected/stored for private, public, or work purposes. A person is a person no matter why he or she is entering information.
What are the eight laws?
- The right to access
- The right to be forgotten
- The right to data portability
- The right to be informed
- The right to have their information corrected
- The right to restrict processing
- The right to object
- The right to be notified
Basically, individuals who live in an EU country must be informed that you intend to collect their personal data and how it will be used. You must always gain their consent before collecting anything, including emails, addresses, and any other information. Failure to comply with GDPR regulations could result in fines and possible legal action.
In most cases, you must also include a privacy policy on your website. This policy should spell out how information is collected and how it is used by your company.
Ensure That you are GDPR Compliant
Making sure that you are GDPR compliant requires you to take steps to protect the personal data of EU citizens. Even if your small business is based in the U.S. you must still comply if you have international customers.
You may need the help of IT specialists to ensure you follow the law. Pegasus Technologies can help you stay on track so your business doesn’t suffer. Contact us today if you have questions about GDPR or you need any other Managed IT solutions or IT Security solutions.
Pegasus Technologies is the IT Team for organizations that don’t need a full-time IT department. Our technology experts build you a technology plan to keep your business running at its best. We have offices in Kennett Square, PA, Media, PA, and Wayne, PA to provide better computer support and IT services to you.
