The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ensures the privacy and security of all personal data belonging to EU residents. Here’s what you need to know.
Regulatory compliance rules help organizations follow guidelines set for specific industries and ensure safety, integrity, and accountability throughout business operations. The General Data Protection Regulation, also known as GDPR, is the toughest privacy and security law in the world! Enterprises must be extra careful to stay compliant with GDPR laws, as the punishments for non-compliance can be costly. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the GDPR?
The GDPR is a document of regulations pertaining to the privacy and security of personal data in the European Union (EU). GDPR laws are imposed upon any organization that offers goods and services to people inside the EU, plus any organization that targets or collects data related to EU residents, even if the organization itself is outside of the European Union.
Personal data, defined by the GDPR, is any information that can be used to directly or indirectly identify a person. Common examples include names, email addresses, web cookies, and location information. If the organization processing the data is using it for the sole purpose of identifying someone, it’s considered personal data by the GDPR.
The data controller is responsible for deciding how personal data will be processed and determining the purpose of processing personal data. Data controllers must adhere to the strictest levels of GDPR compliance. This includes demonstrating full adherence to all data protection principles, implementing the right measures for meeting GDPR laws, and considering all severe risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects. Data controllers must also ensure that any data processors they use follow all GDPR laws.
The data processor is the third party in charge of processing personal data on behalf of the data controller. This includes cloud servers, email service providers, and other third-party platforms. While data processors don’t have the same level of GDPR compliance responsibilities as data controllers, they should still take appropriate measures to ensure compliance.
Data protection principles & privacy requirements
Any organization that processes data must adhere to the seven GDPR protection and accountability principles.
1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: All data processing must be fair, lawful, and transparent to customers
2. Purpose limitation: Processing data must be for legitimate purposes that are explicitly specified to customers
3. Data minimization: Organizations should only collect and process the necessary amount of data for their provided purposes
4. Accuracy: All personal data must remain accurate and updated
5. Storage limitation: Data can only be stored for as long as necessary per the specified purpose
6. Integrity and confidentiality: The methods of data processing must ensure security.
7. Accountability: Organizations, not customers, are responsible for demonstrating GDPR compliance
To stay compliant, organizations must also adhere to the eight data privacy requirements, rights, and principles outlined in the GDPR.
While the data protection principles explain what data processors and controllers must do in order to process, collect, and manage personal data securely, the privacy requirements detail users’ rights. Under the GDPR, for example, all users have the right to access any personal data that’s being processed. Users can also know the source of collected personal data, the purpose of processing, and the length of time data is held. Organizations must also store personal data in a way that is easily shared and understood, so users who want to access their personal data can easily comprehend it.
The consequences of non-compliance
There are two tiers of punishment for violating GDPR privacy and security standards. Less severe infringements relate to data controllers and processors, certification bodies, and monitoring bodies not following due processes. These violations could result in a fine of up to €10 million, or 2% of your organization’s worldwide annual revenue from the preceding financial year—whichever one is the higher amount.
These violations could result in a fine of up to €10 million, or 2% of your organization’s worldwide annual revenue from the preceding financial year—whichever one is the higher amount.
The second, more severe tier of penalties is reserved for organizations that violate core GDPR principles of privacy. If you break the basic laws of processing personal data, conditions for consent, data subjects’ rights, and data transfer, you could be subject to a fine of €20 million max or 4% global revenue. If an organization fails to comply with the monitoring bodies of the GDPR, they will face a massive fine regardless of the original infringement.
Stay compliant with Unqork
GDPR compliance is not something to take lightly. At Unqork, our unwavering commitment to security and trust is at the core of our platform and our organization. We understand all kinds of compliance challenges faced by large enterprises, including the GDPR, and we are here to help you meet the most rigorous demands.
Unqork acts as a data processor on behalf of our clients—we respond to and help our clients to comply with all GDPR privacy regulations. Our platform is built to leverage other critical security features as well, such as encryption and regular penetration testing, for the utmost protection of your users’ personal data. With Unqork by your side, you can rest assured that your company is GDPR compliant!
To learn more about GDPR compliance and the Unqork platform, request a personalized demonstration with one of our in-house experts. Also, sign up for our newsletter for more no-code news.
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