General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Obligatory Cyber Security Essentials

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect May 25, 2018, is still a top concern for most business owners in the United States. The EU institutions made good on their promises to remove red tape for businesses but also tighten privacy protections for individuals. This means privacy rules have changed effective May 25, 2018 and if you deal with personal data or behavioral information from companies or customers in any EU country, your company is subject to the requirements of the GDPR.

According to a report by Financial Times, Fortune Global 500 companies will spend roughly $7.8 billion to ensure they are compliant with the GDPR. All U.S. business owners must be aware that failure to GDPR regulatory standards could cost organizations increased legal fees, or even more in non-compliance fines.

The GDPR reinforce the rights that individuals must control their own data. One of the most significant examples of this is a new right that has been granted to individuals: The right to data portability. The recent survey conducted by Janrain shows sixty-nine percent of American consumers surveyed would like to see privacy laws like GDPR enacted in the U.S.

When asked which of the GDPR provisions they’d most like to see enacted, 38% responded with the ability to control how their data is used while 39% favored the “right to be forgotten” rule.

Every organization that processes personal data needs to make sure that the data is properly safeguarded against loss, theft, unauthorized access, etc. In other words: the security of the personal data is extremely crucial for every organization.

The compliance deadline has come and gone. But it’s not too late. GDPR might be complicated for SMB’s, but we have simplified for you. The need to take proper information security measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of processing systems and services has always been a part of privacy legislation. New is that the GDPR champions pseudonymization and encryption of personal data: These security measures are so valuable that they have been specifically mentioned in the text of the act.

GDPR compliance is a long journey that involves a combination of adapting processes and procedures and implementing strong security controls. If you haven’t already done so, this is the time to begin identifying and mapping your GDPR compliance journey. The better you understand where you are in your GDPR journey, the easier it will be for you to identify what you need to do next to reach your destination. That’s where Techcess CyberSecurity Group can help you move forward.

Learn more about Techcess’ Cyber Security offerings to support your compliance journey. To get started protecting your business’ digital assets, call us today at 1-833-892-9237.