5 Unavoidable Ways GDPR is Impacting Your Business in 2022

Data security is considered a fundamental right in this digital age, and countries are working towards improving the way data is collected and stored. 

The General Data Privacy Regulation of the European Union has become the benchmark for privacy laws worldwide. With new regulations being drafted every day, the GDPR has heavily impacted global businesses and forced them to find data protection services.

This article will discuss the five ways the GDPR impacts businesses in 2022 and what companies can do to stay in compliance.

Impact Of GDPR

The GDPR is an extensive privacy regulation that covers every aspect of data protection and security for the residents of the European Union. That being said, it has set guidelines for organizations worldwide on how they undergo their daily operations. There are five unavoidable ways the GDPR is impacting businesses. Following are the aspects that companies need to consider when trying to stay compliant with the GDPR.

Transparency

The primary basis of the GDPR is to promote transparency. A person needs to know where their information is being used to have data privacy. Individuals or data subjects have the right to know what the organization is doing with their data. Organizations need to ensure that customers and employees are aware of what the business is doing with their data and 3rd party data processors that the data is being shared. Furthermore, long overdrawn privacy policies are no longer feasible.

Business efficiency

GDPR compliance is only possible when your business operations are efficient. The first step is to learn what categories of data are processed by you and if this includes sensitive data such as race, religion, health, or criminal data. This also involves knowing everything about the data you have stored.

The second step is to be aware of where the data is stored. Organizations have several servers and storage hardware where data can be stored. Your organization should know where all the information is, whether in legacy infrastructure or cloud storage.

Finally, organizations need to know who has access to information and why. Often cases of data breaches stem from unauthorized access. To avoid data privacy risks, your organization needs to be aware of all the access controls and why each employee has them. 

Although you need to have consent for processing based on the laws defined by the GDPR, it is crucial to identify your data flow risk areas. Carrying out an Impact Assessment can be a great way to achieve this. Impact assessments help you highlight areas where data is retained for longer than required. This mitigates the risk of non-compliance and breach.

Data breach reporting

A data breach is a serious issue within an organization, and the GDPR requires you to report a data breach as soon as possible to all the affected individuals. 

Under the law, organizations with a data breach have 72 hours to report it to the data protection authority. Failure to do so can result in heavy fines and penalties. Organizations are encouraged to train their data-facing staff on data protection practices and breach reporting to streamline this process. Subsequent refresher courses and training are essential to ensure ongoing staff awareness and your ability to demonstrate compliance.

Data Subject Rights

The GDPR has given rights to individuals that have their data stored or collected by organizations. One of the significant rights that fall under the GDPR is the Data Subject Access Request. This allows the data subject to request access to all the information stored by the organization. If this request is made, organizations have 30 days to fulfill this request, free of cost. Collecting an individual’s data, especially in larger organizations, can be difficult, and there should be a predefined process ready to help record all processing activities.

Accountability

Perhaps the most important principle under the GDPR is the data controller’s responsibility to comply with the GDPR and document their compliance. The GDPR holds the data controller and processor jointly and severally liable for the data. This means if a controller passes on personal data to a 3rd party processor, your organization needs to ensure that the 3rd party processor provides ‘sufficient guarantees’ of protections and compliance with the rights of Data Subjects.

Wrapping Up

GDPR has raised the bar for data privacy and security for the citizens of the EU and UK. 

While not every person within an organization can control all the aspects of data privacy, experts believe in hiring an outsourced DPO who understands the data protection needs of the modern business. 

They can handle all the compliance-based processes within your organization, allowing you to focus your time and resources on other tasks within the company.

Engaging a DPO as a service makes plain business sense. These outsourced DPOs perform all tasks required by the GDPR to ensure customer safety allowing your organization to reach the appropriate compliance levels. You can even ask them to build an annual plan to help you understand the steps needed to be fully compliant with your marketing efforts.