A Close Look At The Technical Side Of GDPR Compliance

A wave of changes ushered in by GDPR has caught many business professionals off guard, resulting in stiff fines and embarrassment in the marketplace. While much has been written about the sweeping impact that GDPR will have on disparate industries in the long-term, relatively few have taken a genuinely close look at the technical side of GDPR compliance. Luckily, any savvy professionals can easily brush up on the essentials.

Here are the little details about the technical side of GDPR compliance and the key missteps you should avoid if you’re looking to avoid penalties.

Compliance isn’t a
given

One of the most important things to remember when it comes
to discussing the change brought about by GDPR is that compliance isn’t a given
anymore; while many companies and business professionals skirted by in previous
years thanks to lax regulations, recent reforms mean that companies are soon
going to be forced to make some major changes. As data privacy and security
grow to become vital parts of the contemporary economy, the associated fines
and penalties that come with flouting data standards will continue to grow.

So, how can anxious professionals soothe their worries and
guarantee that they’re GDPR compliant? The first step is performing a
comprehensive risk assessment to determine which areas of your IT and data
privacy infrastructure need beefing up. If you’re holding the valuable personal
information of customers or business partners, you likely need to do more to
ensure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Securing device data in particular is an
important facet of GDPR compliance that many latecomers to the game aren’t
paying enough attention to.

It’s vital that companies looking to
avoid falling out of GDPR compliance run these kinds of security checks ahead
of time, as data breaches in the near-future will soon be punished much more
severely. One of the easiest ways to detect the kinds of technical glitches and
gaps in security that will ultimately hurt your business is to equip your staff
with the technical training they need to run routine maintenance or hire a
company, such as YEAH!
Local, who know what they’re doing. Training your staff on how to handle the GDPR’s forthcoming changes
is an essential step if you want to really prepare your company.

For any real deep dive into the technical side of GDPR
compliance, you’ll also need to bring your IT staff members on board for
personal briefings with your team leaders. Whether you’re a small business with
minimal IT infrastructure or a larger company with a dedicated IT team, chances
are your IT crowd knows vastly more about the technical requirements your
company needs to consider than your senior leadership figures.

The grace period is
closing

While many professionals were coasting alone for the past
two years during the GDPR’s grace period, others were preparing themselves.
This is the last real opportunity for companies that have shunned cookies and
GDPR preparations to really guarantee that they’re compliant with the new data
rules, so don’t be afraid to fast track any GDPR-orientated changes you were
considering.

You can avoid having to shift your entire staff’s focus to
GDPR by enlisting the help of a data protection officer. Dedicated IT professionals
are an essential part of the plan when it comes to maintaining compliance, so
companies that haven’t intimately reviewed their IT budgets to accommodate new
spending will likely be disadvantaged. Furthermore, businesses need to come up
with a comprehensive checklist that will serve as your final safety measure
ensuring that you’re compliant.

Drafting a GDPR checklist for compliance isn’t easy, as
there’s no one-size-fits-all solution; every company is different, so a deep
dive into the technical aspects of your industry will necessitate an IT
professional in your respective field. Nonetheless, there are some broad strokes that need to be considered when
making any checklist. A total reshaping of your company hierarchy isn’t needed,
but a sizable shift of resources to the IT department will be necessary if you
really want to keep data secure, for instance.

Finally, you should review whether you have an
explicit privacy noticed prepared for when GDPR inevitably takes effect.
Collecting personal data is now more difficult than ever for businesses, but
many companies still aren’t taking privacy notices and the consent of consumers
seriously. Do a full review of your privacy notification system and consider
how you’ll be alerting customers and partners in the event of a data breach if
you’re really concerned about how you’ll fare when GDPR takes hold of the
market. Data storage and security can’t be discounted, either; companies which
refuse to invest in secure off-site data centers will be paying the price.
Above all else, a transparent company culture that champions data privacy will
survive and thrive in the market after GDPR takes effect.