What is GDPR and Why Should I Care?
You may be familiar with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is, according to the GDPR itself, “the toughest privacy and security law in the world.”
But why is it important today, and why should you care about its restrictions?
What exactly is GDPR?
Before we get into why the GDPR matters, let’s look at what it is and how it functions.Drafted in 2016 and put into effect in 2018, the GDPR defines data-protection legislation in order to strengthen management, privacy, and processing of data across Europe. The regulations are strict and thorough, which means it might be more difficult to maintain compliance if you’re a small or medium-sized company.
The GDPR has several tools and resources from SME owners to help them meet and maintain compliance, and you can find those tips here.
The key points for businesses to know regarding the GDPR include:
- Right to be forgotten
- Companies must agree to delete incorrecting, misleading, or unnecessary information about EU citizens from their websites.
- Reporting practices
- If you’re on the receiving end of a cyber attack or data breach, you must report the incident within 72 hours
- Data protection officers
- Companies that are connected to data from EU citizens must have a data protection officer who can report to the EU about incidents or concerns relating to GDPR compliance.
- Fines for noncompliance
- If you do not comply with the GDPR, you can face fines of up to 4% of your annual global revenue.
Where does GDPR come into play?
Though it was first drafted and put into effect in Europe, Its reach goes beyond the EU. If you’re a company receiving, storing, managing, or targeting data related to anyone from the EU, you have to be in compliance with the GDPR legislation.
As a company based outside of Europe, why does GDPR matter?
As we stated above, even if you’re a company operating outside of Europe, you have to follow GDPR compliance if you’re coming into contact with people’s data from the EU. In other words, collecting, receiving, or retaining EU citizen information will bind you to GDPR regulatory practices.
Additionally, being GDPR compliant can help grow trust with customers and clients. Data protection and privacy is a growing concern, and that level of transparency will contribute to your overall image and brand as a trusted industry leader.
Other benefits of GDPR compliance include:
- Improved overall cybersecurity
- Better data management practices
- Ability to build confidence in clients and consumers
- Ability to minimize maintenance costs on outdated or idle software you aren’t using anymore
- You will be more aligned with the future of data-management technologies.
- GDPR improves marketing strategies by ensuring you update your data and have only the most relevant information on customers.
Acme Ticketing supports GDPR Privacy regulations
ACME’s all-in-one ticketing solution doesn’t just help you manage your ticketing and membership needs, it also ensures you’re in compliance with GDPR and other regulations.
ACME is committed to protecting the information of our clients and their customers, and our extensive privacy policy describes how we treat personal information that we collect both online and offline.
Try the demo to learn more about how ACME can help you grow your organization and keep your customers’ data safe.