The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force on 25 May 2018 will be far stricter than existing rules, meaning all businesses have to tighten up their processes on handling data. Why? Because breaking the rules or data breaches can be punished by eye-watering fines of up to 4% of global turnover or €20 million plus possible criminal prosecutions.
GDPR forces all businesses to be able to explain how they handle customer data, showing in detail the processes used to collect, analyse and store data. Your customers will be able to ask to see all data you hold on them and this must be supplied in commonly used formats, such as CSV files, at your own expense. Customers can also require you to make changes to the information you hold on them and even demand its deletion, providing it is not required to be retained by law, eg financial records.
On top of this, you must prove that your IT systems are secure, both within your organisation and when transferring it over the internet to partners, Cloud providers or online storage services.
So where do you start? Are your IT systems geared up to providing all data you hold on a customer on demand in a simple format? Can your accounting system or customer database meet the needs of the new regulations? How secure is the data you hold, especially when you transfer or store it?
Many off-the-shelf software packages simply weren’t designed to do this and you need to check urgently whether your systems can comply with GDPR’s tough demands. We can help you work out any upgrades, customisation or replacements you need to make and isntall these for you. Just give FX7 Solutions a call to start the ball rolling to make sure you meet the 25 May GDPR deadline.
