113


LEGAL CORNER Six Steps to GDPR Readiness


G


DPR is the EU General Data Protection Regulation which replaces the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK and the equivalent legislation across the EU


Member States. Whilst the Regulation is already in force, businesses and organisations have until the 25th May until it applies to them. It is noteworthy that it will apply to EU based companies and companies that collect data of EU citizens, even if they do not have a physical presence in the EU – so it looks set to change the way businesses treat and store personal data around the globe on a grand scale. The fines for non-compliance can be significant figures, so it should be a priority for every business to ensure that they are GDPR compliant by the deadline. So, how do you go about doing that? And what if you haven’t started yet? We’ve put together six steps for you to focus on, which we hope will help. The first step is an obvious one: familiarise yourself with


the GDPR! Once you’ve done this, you can start raising awareness within your business of how the law is changing. Involve everyone in the discussion. From key decision makers to everybody involved in the handling of personal data: it is important to make everybody aware of the upcoming changes. In this way you can set about identifying the areas where you need to apply change. The second step: document the personal data you hold.


Where did it come from? Whom do you share it with? You should check your procedures to ensure they cover all the rights which individuals have, including how you would delete personal data or provide data electronically and in a commonly used format. The third step: review your current privacy notices and put a plan in place for making any necessary changes in time for


By Jasmine Clamp, Solicitor at Wollen Michelmore


GDPR implementation. You should update your procedures and plan how you will handle requests within the new timescales and provide any additional information. You should review how you seek, record and manage consent and whether you need to make any changes. Do be sure to refresh existing consents now if they don’t meet the GDPR standard. The fourth step: think about what you would do in the


worst-case scenario of a personal data breach. To err is human, mistakes can and do happen and you might find that divine forgiveness comes your way if you can show that you had all the right procedures in place at the outset to detect, report and investigate the material data breach. The fifth step: the GDPR applies additional protection to the personal data of children because they may be less aware of the risks, consequences, safeguards, concerns and their rights. You should therefore think about whether you need to put systems in place to verify individuals’ ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for any data processing activity. The GDPR has specified that all communications must be in “plain and simple English”, so this should be borne in mind when drafting privacy policies for example – and would be no bad thing for the rest of us! The sixth step: think about designating someone to take


responsibility for data protection compliance and assess where this role will sit within your business. And that’s it, you’ve walked through our Six Steps. However,


if you should feel that it was more of a marathon, then do contact our Commercial team who will be more than happy to carry out a GDPR Readiness Assessment for you and advise you accordingly.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148