Today, data is everywhere and flows freely across borders and worldwide. When data is involved, privacy is one of the major challenges faced by businesses. To protect individuals’ personal data, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented in the European Union and the European Economic Area. Businesses operating in the EU should be GDPR compliant. Businesses that interact with EU residents are also GDPR compliant regardless of the location from which they operate.
Navigating GDPR compliance might be challenging. However, expert organizations that provide managed IT services in Philadelphia can help businesses with this. If you are someone who seeks to understand, implement, and maintain GDPR compliance effectively, read on. This blog will help you understand how to effectively protect data subjects’ rights and be GDPR compliant.
Understanding GDPR Basics
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a data protection guideline enacted in May 2018 in the European Union. It aims to protect the personal data of EU and European Economic Area (EEA) citizens and regulate the export of personal data outside the EU/EEA. GDPR requires organizations to implement strict data protection rules; if violated, they will face severe penalties. Below are the key principles of GDPR.
- Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency
- Purpose Limitation
- Data Minimization
- Accuracy
- Storage Limitations
- Integrity and Confidentiality
- Accountability
Scope and Applicability of GDPR
GDPR applies to all organizations that process the personal data of individuals residing in the EU or EEA region. This means that even if the organization is not physically located in the EU but handles the personal data of EU and EEA residents, it must comply with GDPR. It is also applicable to organizations established in the EU, even if the data processing is not happening within the EU.
Let us consider a different scenario. If a business operates outside the EU but offers goods or services to citizens of the EU or EEA, including online sales or marketing activities, this organization is GDPR compliant. Businesses located outside the EU that monitor the behavior of individuals residing in the EU are also GDPR compliant. Primarily if the behavior monitoring affects the decision-making concerning the individuals.
The following factors can be considered when determining whether GDPR applies to a non-EU business.
- Businesses targeting EU residents
- Behavior monitoring businesses targeting EU residents
If a business falls under the above categories and does not comply with the GDPR, it might face fines and penalties. So, businesses operating internationally must assess their GDPR obligations and ensure compliance with the regulation if they interact with EU residents’ data.
Key GDPR Requirements for Businesses
There are some major GDPR requirements to make businesses GDPR compliant. Let us look at them in detail.
1. Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Data
GDPR requires businesses to have a lawful basis for processing personal data. The lawful bases include the below entities.
- Consent: The data subject should give explicit permission to process their data.
- Contractual Necessity: To perform a contract with the data subject, processing is necessary
- Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
- Vital Interests: Processing is necessary to protect the data subject’s or another person’s vital interests.
- Public Interest or Official Authority: Processing is necessary for performing a task in the public interest.
- Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for the legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or a third party.
- Consent Requirements
If consent is the lawful basis for processing, it should be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Individuals must have the right to withdraw consent at any time.
- Data Subject Rights
GDPR also offers certain rights to individuals. These include the right to access, erasure, rectification, object to processing, data portability, and restriction of processing.
The right to access allows individuals to obtain confirmation from the data controller about the processing information of their data.
With the right to rectification, individuals can request to rectify incorrect information.
The right to Erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten, allows individuals to request that their personal data be erased. This can be done when the data is no longer relevant to the purpose or was collected and processed through unlawful acts.
Under the right to data portability, individuals can obtain their personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. It can also be transmitted to another controller without hindrance. Data subjects can object to the processing of their personal data based on legitimate interests, direct marketing, or for scientific or historical research purposes.
- Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA)
GDPR requires organizations to conduct DPIAs for data processing, posing high data privacy risks. A DPIA will reveal the necessity and risks involved in the processing and include measures to mitigate the possible risks.
- Data Breach Notification Requirements
Under the key GDPR requirements, if an organization becomes aware of a data breach, it should report it to the supervisory authority within 72 hours. They should inform the individuals whose data might be exposed, which may result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms.
How to Achieve GDPR Compliance – Step-by-step Process
Let us understand how an organization can achieve GDPR compliance and the steps it should take during the process.
Conduct a Data Audit – The first step is identifying all personal data collected, processed, and stored. Every data source, type, storage location, and purpose of processing should be documented.
Determine Legal Basis for Data Processing – Once the data audit is complete, the next step is determining the lawful basis for processing each data type or category.
Privacy by Design and Default – Implement technical and organizational measures to collect and process only necessary data. By default, privacy settings are at the highest level to ensure utmost privacy.
Update Privacy Policies and Notices – Organizations need to review and update their privacy policies and notices regularly. Data subjects should easily read and understand the terms mentioned in the documents.
Establish Data Protection Procedures and Policies – Appropriate procedures should be designed to respond to individual requests and conduct other high-risk procedures. These should be followed while conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments.
Train Staff on GDPR Compliance – Staff members involved in processing personal data should be appropriately trained on GDPR compliance. As the terms of the GDPR change, regular training and awareness programs should be conducted.
Appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) – Bulk processing of sensitive data demands the supervision of a DPO. The DPO will oversee GDPR compliance, conduct DPIAs, and act as a bridge between the organization and data protection inquiries.
