What is GDPR?
Everyone is talking about GDPR, but nobody truly understands what it is all about in the first place. Without wasting any more of your time, lets see what is GDPR, and how it will affect you, and businesses in general.
What is GDPR? – GDPR Explained
The data protection act is part of the European Union privacy law, which was approved in 2016 by none other than the European Parliament, European Commission and the European Union.
The new GDPR privacy rules will replace the data protection directive from 1995. According to the GDPR website, the purpose of introducing this legislation is to provide greater rights and protection to individuals.
Taking a closer look at the regulation, it is apparent there are big changes for businesses and the public. Specifically, data controllers and processors will have to be more transparent, and will need to gain consent for any and all information being collected.
It is worth noting, the GDPR regulation has come to fruition after four years of negotiation and discussions. For now, the GDPR has been adopted by the European Council and the European Parliament, and will come into effect on the 25th of May, 2018.
What does GDPR Mean for Everyone?
If you are wondering what is GDPR, and how it will impact everyone, you are not alone. The General Data Protection Regulation divides individuals, companies and organization into ‘Data Controllers and ‘Data Processors’.
If you think about it, your data is valuable. Take into account how social media platforms, online stores, banks and even your government, collect your personal data and process it as they see fit. In fact, there are businesses out there that pay to get their hands on personal and confidential information, the reasons for doing so can vary from elaborating their mailing list to studying their target audience to develop new marketing strategies and whatnot.
Basically, the GDPR protects personal and confidential data in particular. Why? Because said data can be used to identify specific individuals. This includes data like IP address, name, email address and so on.
Data controllers and processors will be required to secure their users’ personal data henceforth. They are required to highlight their privacy policy, and gain consent for acquiring and sharing data with third parties.
What is GDPR Compliance?
Seeing how the number of ransomware attacks and data breaches have increased exponentially, it is only fair regulations like GDPR are introduced to protect online users from falling victim to hackers and cybercriminals.
According to the GDPR, businesses, companies and organizations will have to collect information legally, as mentioned earlier, with consent. Additionally, they need to have a very good reason as to why they need such information in the first place. Moreover, they will have to take measures to secure such information to prevent it from falling in the wrong hands. Failing to comply can result in huge penalties.
Is Every Online Business Affected by the GDPR?
If it isn’t already abundantly clear, yes, the data protection act applies to all online businesses in the EU. This also applies to online businesses out the the EU, that offer goods or services to companies and customers in the EU.
Come to think of it, almost all businesses these days are linked to one another, for which reason major companies will need to comply by the GDPR without fail. This can already been seen by how companies have reworked their GDPR compliance policy.
Impact of GDPR on Online Users
Millions of users have suffered from the increasing number of hacks and data breaches in the past few years. Victims had at least some part of their data exposed on the internet. But with the GDPR in place, here is how online users can benefit:
- They will know when and where their data is being used.
- They will know if their data has been compromised within 72 hours of the breach.
- They will can request access to their data, and make changes.
- They can request to have all their data deleted and/or transferred.
- They can choose how their data is processed.
GDPR Penalties
For those data controllers and processors that fail to comply with the rules and regulations set forth by the GDPR, two different kinds of fines can be imposed.
The first fine is 2% of the company’s annual turnover from yesteryear, or €10 million, whichever is the highest. The second fine is 4% of the company’s annual turnover from yesteryear, or €20 million, whichever is the highest.
Seeing how the penalties are substantial, it serves as a good reason to comply with the GDPR regulation through and through.
Infringements can be fined as well, but that will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Factors that will be taken into consideration include:
- Number of people affected
- Previous infringements by the controller or processor
- Whether the infringement was intentional
Apart from the GDPR having your back, it is imperative you go the extra mile to secure yourself further. For this reason, you should you a VPN, like Ivacy VPN. Once connected to a VPN server, it will ensure you are secure and anonymous through and through.
