What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data privacy law that came into effect on May 25, 2018. It applies to any organization that processes personal data of EU residents, regardless of where the organization is based.
Key Principles of GDPR
- Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Data must be processed legally and transparently.
- Purpose limitation: Data should only be collected for specified, explicit purposes.
- Data minimization: Only collect data that is necessary for the intended purpose.
- Accuracy: Personal data must be kept accurate and up to date.
- Storage limitation: Data should not be kept longer than necessary.
- Integrity and confidentiality: Data must be processed securely.
Rights of Data Subjects
GDPR grants individuals several important rights:
- Right to access their personal data
- Right to rectification of inaccurate data
- Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
- Right to data portability
- Right to object to processing
Penalties for Non-Compliance
GDPR violations can result in severe penalties: up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher. This makes compliance not just a legal requirement but a business imperative.
Steps to GDPR Compliance
- Data mapping: Identify what personal data you collect and where it's stored.
- Legal basis review: Ensure you have valid legal grounds for processing.
- Privacy notices: Update your privacy policies to be clear and comprehensive.
- Data protection measures: Implement appropriate technical and organizational safeguards.
- Breach response plan: Prepare procedures for detecting and reporting data breaches.
Tools like VaultMate can help automate the discovery of personal data across your systems, making compliance monitoring more efficient and thorough.