GDPR Helen Clark Bell’s Blog
If your in box is anything like mine you will be receiving at least 5 emails a day about GDPR – that doesn’t stand for Grand Dad’s Prize Radishes or Greatest Disasters in Public Relations or even Gardeners Displacement of Pesky Rabbits.
We are living in a 21st century world where data is omnipotent – spare a thought for how many companies have your personal email address/telephone number/address and how many communications you receive in any one month that you don’t wish to.
Data Protection Regulations were last updated in 1997 – over the last 20 years our management of data and reliance on data has transformed and is open to leakage, abuse and can be bought and sold. On May 25th 2018 – General Data Protection Regulations come into force.
GDPR can be seen as a huge opportunity to cleanse our databases and enable us to have focussed communications with those that want to have a conversation with us.
GDPR affects every part of your business; HR & recruitment, marketing and sales, contract management also with a major implications on your IT network and software providers.
If your business is hacked or information is leaked the ICO can now fine your business up to 4% of your global turnover and on average fines are expected to be 79 times higher than last years. However there is not just the financial risk as if that is not bad enough there will also likely be a reputational risk associated with this.
So in case you haven’t gathered GDPR is a terrifically important subject/topic/ project for every business.
At our joint event with Merton Chamber this morning we heard from a panel of experts covering the wide ranging aspects that need to be addressed.:-
- Robin Farrer-Fisher from our host Close Brothers Banking Division, about the importance of GDPR to their business and ensuring that the senior management of the organisation is aware of the implications and requirements
- Patrick Stewart from TWM solicitors gave a very succinct overview from the legal perspective including a definition of what is personally identifiable data and what should be included within a privacy statement
- Paul Lawrence from Salpo (a CRM system that Merton Chamber and Love Wimbledon BID both use) explained the process of obtaining consents and then the importance of being able to audit activity
- Arshad Daud from Flexicom Solutions (local IT service company) reiterated the importance of it being a business process decision and not to rush out and buy the latest GDPR solution that is being advertised
- Chris Campbell from London Digital Security Centre provided information about cyber security including cyber essentials and the free healthcheck available through LDSC.
We then had a very healthy and interesting question and answer session as businesses started to develop their understanding of the impact for their business.
A number of really helpful resources and websites were shared as detailed below.
Close Brothers www.closebrothers.com
TWM Solicitors LLP www.twmsolicitors.com
Salpo Technologies www.salpo.com
Flexicom Solutions www.flexicomsolutions.com
London Digital Security Centre www.londondsc.co.uk
OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
