EU GDPR

The most comprehensive data privacy standard to date

What Is GDPR?

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into play on 25th May 2018, designed to protect the personal data of consumers and make organizations more accountable on how they handle such information.

Built upon the existing Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998, GDPR is the most comprehensive data privacy standard to date. Its implementation is a response to the rise of data breaches, sensitive card information leaks, ransomware attacks and other malicious cyber attacks impacting businesses and consumers across the world.

GDPR includes strict guidelines for organizations, including:

  • Recording how and when an individual gave consent for their details to be used. Consent must be an action and affirmative action, not simply a pre-ticked box on a web form.
  • Being transparent to how data is used, how long it is stored for and who gets to see it. Consumers may also demand direct access to review the information stored about them.
  • Responding to the consumers have the right to demand that their data is deleted, commonly referred to as the ‘right to be forgotten’.
  • Reporting a data breach within 72 hours of being aware of it to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Organizations that do not comply with GDPR will face heavy fines, up to €20m (approximately £17.8 million) or 4% of turnover, whichever is greater.

Additionally, research by security experts Thales also suggests that 79% of consumers would not do business with an organization that didn’t comply with GDPR and 58% of respondents claiming they would at least consider legal action.

What Is “Personal Data”?

The European Commission has expanded the definition of personal data under GDPR. It considers it to be “any information relating to an individual, whether it relates to his or her private, professional or public life.” Under this definition, personal data can count as any of the following:

  • Name
  • Home address
  • Photo
  • Email address
  • Bank details
  • Posts on social networking websites
  • Medical information
  • A computer’s IP address

The bottom line is, if you collect, store or process any personal information about your customers, GDPR applies to you.

What About Brexit?

Brexit will have little impact on GDPR’s implementation within the UK.

The Government have already confirmed a similar set of guidelines will be enforced so UK organizations can continue to trade within the EU in an attempt for a smooth transition post-Brexit.

Therefore UK businesses should have GDPR as a high priority in 2018, to understand how it impacts how they process and store personal and sensitive customer details.

EUCircle

What Is the Difference Between GDPR and PCI-DSS?

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS or PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

The good news is, if you’re PCI-DSS compliant (or working with suppliers and partners who are compliant) you’re on the right path to becoming GDPR compliant too. If you’re looking to protect your organization and customer’s sensitive information for GDPR, please talk to us and we can help you become PCI-DSS Compliant by descoping your organization and keep you abreast of the regulation.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PCI-DSS

GDPR focuses more on personally identifiable information such as indicated above. Whilst there are similarities between the two, the more well-established PCI-DSS documentation provides a robust set of guidelines for an organization, the details of GDPR have yet to be finalised at this time.

GDPR Compliance

Regulation of the collection, storage and processing of personally identifiable information, introduced by the European Union in May 2018.

GDPR-Venn

PCI-DSS Compliance

Accredited secure environment for sensitive credit card information, introduced by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI-SSC).

PLEASE NOTE

Key IVR are not a legal council and organizations should seek professional legal advice where appropriate to understand the full implications of GDPR.

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Key IVR are a privately owned business offering global automated PCI-DSS compliant payment services. We are a customer-service focused organisation and take care to manage and meet our clients' expectations.

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