26 July 2017
Many companies will be aware of the GDPR legislation soon to be introduced. For some companies, this may be the first time you’ve have heard of it. Whichever category you fall into, the following information is going to be vital to your business in the very near future.
Wherever you are in your GDPR planning, you need to get up to speed on what you need to do to be ready.
This is a guide on the very basics, prepared by Distinctive Innovation. They offer further education and training with workshops and seminars for businesses in the South East Midlands area but for now, let’s start at the very beginning…
The GDPR is the long-term replacement of the Data Protection Act 1995 that will become mandatory from the 25th May 2018. All companies, regardless of size, must be compliant with the new directive or face serious fines – up to 4% of your worldwide annual turnover.
There are a lot of changes, designed to be more suitable for the future worldwide market. These changes are there, fundamentally, to give power back to the person whose data is on file. The changes will seem very dramatic to any company that uses marketing tools and this is why businesses must not only be compliant, but must change their processes and ways of running to accommodate this.
Businesses will no longer be able to send unsolicited emails or purchase any personal data without consent from the individual (usually through an opt-in system). Staff data compliance training will also be a mandatory requirement.
Furthermore, all contact with potential customers must be recorded, date stamped and justified. If you hold any information on someone, they have a right to request it. If you cannot supply this information, you could be fined. Simply put, every company that processes customer data now needs to be compliant.
The good news is that there’s plenty of time to understand this in more detail and make sure your business is compliant. The focal points for you are how you store customer data, how you market to future prospects and how your business acquires future potential customer data.
Distinctive Innovation, can assist companies through this compliance transition, helping to secure your data on websites, web applications, bespoke software, servers and mobile devices. We offer training and hands-on software assistance when and if it is required.
We think that step one of the transitional process is to gather information on the GDPR regulations in an easy to understand way. To help with this, Distinctive Innovation is hosting digital events in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, to give you a better insight into the 2018 data protection changes. This is currently for SME’s but we can also cater to larger businesses and network groups by delivering training on site. We also offer a free on-site system audit should your IT infrastructure be more complex.
Please contact Ashley for more information: ashley.carter@distinctiveinnovation.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit our website: www.distinctiveinnovation.co.uk/events
For official information about the GDPR, visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
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