What does it mean to be GDPR Compliant? | GDPReu.org

Organisations must be GDPR compliant to avoid penalties or reputational damage and to protect the rights of data subjects living within the EU.

What does it mean to be GDPR compliant?

If you’re wondering how exactly a business can be GDPR compliant, then this simple guide is for you. GDPR compliance, at its core, is about an organisation meeting the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. Read on to find out why compliance is so important and what organisations must do to avoid breaches and penalties.

What it means to be GDPR compliant

For UK-based organisations, GDPR compliance also refers to adhering to the UK GDPR, which mirrors the EU regulations under the Data Protection Act 2018. This means that compliance strategies remain largely the same, but organisations must also monitor guidelines issued by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The General Data Protection Regulation basics

The privacy laws under GDPR are the strictest in the world. Devised and implemented by the European Union in 2018, the GDPR lays out organizational measures that international organisations must take when they use personal data relating to anyone who comes from one of the EU member states.

GDPR was launched officially on 25 May 2018 and replaced the previous Data Protection act that was no longer considered wide-ranging enough.

Designed specifically to strengthen the rights of data subjects on how the data controller uses their information.

Since Brexit, UK-based businesses also operate under the UK GDPR, which closely follows EU standards. While the core principles are unchanged, it’s important to adapt practices to comply with local (UK) regulatory guidance.

Main Goals of GDPR and Data Protection Principles

There are three main objectives of GDPR related to personal data:

Protecting Privacy Rights

Establish and safeguard the privacy rights of individuals against unlawful processing.

Unifying Data Privacy Laws

Standardise data privacy laws across EU member states to create clear obligations for data controllers.

Modernising Data Laws

Update data protection laws to reflect technological advances and changes over the past decades.

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Defining a data protection officer and other GDPR terminology

It’s always helpful to explain GDPR terminology before we go into how to adequately comply and how to avoid GDPR fines.

The following list explains the major terminology used within the legislation and should help to explain the kind of data protection measures organisations must take to tick off their GDPR compliance checklist.

Data subject

Refers to individuals who live in the EU and who have had their data collected, held, or otherwise processed by a data protection officer, controller, or another processor.

Data controllers

Are the entities responsible for defining the lawful basis for data collection and the processing of personal data related to data subjects.

Data processors

Work with the data controller and process data.

Data processing

Means regular and systematic monitoring or operations performed on sets of personal data. This can include automated processing or manual.

Personal data

Means any data, whether large scale or not, related to the data subject. The data here must be able to identify the individual due to it relating to a name, photos, bank statements or an email address.

Consent

In this context means the necessity of obtaining the consent of the data subject to process data. The organisation must provide data subjects with an option to give consent and it must be a “freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication”.

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Is your company a data processor?

When working out whether this personal data protection legislation impacts your organisation, you need to consider whether your data activity comes under GDPR and whether you fall into the territorial scope of the law.

For example, US businesses can still be subject to GDPR if they are collecting or using sensitive personal data or other personal data belonging to individuals who live in the EU. Business practices must reflect whether their core activities consist of services online or offline that come under GDPR to avoid criminal convictions or any breach. This includes third countries, such as the UK.

As the GDPR puts in place appropriate safeguards and security measures surrounding a controller’s processing of personal data, it applies whether the actual processing takes place in the EU.

Therefore, it can cover overseas Government agencies or non-profit organisations as well as any public authority or private company that deals with data owned by EU citizens.

Processing personal data and GDPR compliance in clear and plain language regarding data subjects their personal data

What Are the 8 Data Subject Rights Under GDPR?

Along with the right to withdraw consent, the GDPR outlines the following rights regarding consumer data. Organisations must ensure compliance by upholding these rights:

  1. Articles 12 to 14: Right to Be Informed
    Individuals have the right to be informed about how their data—whether basic identity information, IP addresses, cookie data, sensitive information, or biometric data—is collected and used.
  2. Article 15: Right to Access
    Individuals can request access to their personal data and obtain copies.
  3. Article 16: Right to Rectification
    Individuals have the right to request corrections or updates to inaccurate or outdated personal data.
  4. Article 17: Right to Be Forgotten
    Individuals can request the deletion of their personal data, provided certain legal conditions are met.
  5. Article 20: Right to Data Portability
    Individuals can request that their personal data be transferred to another controller in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
  6. Article 18: Right to Restrict Processing
    Individuals can request the restriction or suppression of their personal data under specific circumstances.
  7. Article 7: Right to Withdraw Consent
    Individuals can withdraw previously given consent regarding their personal data. Organisations must ensure this process is straightforward.
  8. Article 21: Right to Object
    Individuals can object to the processing of their personal data, particularly for marketing purposes or where processing is based on legitimate interests.

Is your organisation fully prepared to handle these rights and maintain GDPR compliance?

It is important to conduct data protection impact assessments to create an actionable plan. Any plan for compliance must revolve around the 7 GDPR principles. These are:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency – there must be a lawful basis for data flow processing. The subject must be fully informed and there should be no possibility of a personal data breach.
  2. Purpose limitation – to comply with data protection authorities and to fulfil data protection obligations, you must be clear about the purposes of the processing.
  3. Data minimisation – data breaches can be avoided by only processing personal information to a minimum extent.
  4. Accuracy – any data that is processed must be accurate and up to date. It is up to your information security to erase or correct inaccurate information at the earliest possible time.
  5. Storage limitation – a risk assessment should tell you whether you really need to keep the data.
  6. Integrity and confidentiality – Appropriate security measures should be in place to avoid any possibility of a data breach, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the personal data being processed.
  7. Accountability – take responsibility for all processing and data mapping and ensure it is all on record so that the requisite information systems can demonstrate compliance with all the principles listed.
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What happens if your organisation is not GDPR compliant?

Organisations that either do not comply with the legislation or cause a breach could face large fines. The most serious cases of non-compliance could lead to a fine of up to seventeen million Euros (or 4% of the organisation’s annual turnover).

As of the latest guidelines, non-compliance penalties remain at up to €20 million or 4% of turnover (for EU jurisdiction) and similar scales for UK regulators. Always refer to the ICO’s guidance and European Data Protection Board releases for current figures and enforcement practices.

When deciding on whether to penalise an organisation, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will consider certain aspects of the breach. These include:

  • How severe the breach is and how long it will last.
  • Whether the breach was due to negligence or on purpose.
  • Whether the organisation has previously done the same thing.
  • The kind of data involved in the breach.
  • Whether the individual’s rights and freedoms have been impacted.

However, the ICO is clear that compliance is not about finding organisations. Rather, it is about protecting the privacy of an individual’s information, something that is increasingly important in the age of ‘big data’.

The reason for the extremely high fines is to demonstrate just how important compliance is with GDPR, and that organisations should do everything they can to ensure that they are within all the regulatory guidelines.

Perhaps just as damaging as a fine is the negative impact such a breach could do on your company’s reputation. In the worst cases, this reputational damage can be impossible to rectify.

What If Your Organisation Is Not Compliant?

Non-compliance can result in hefty fines—up to €20 million or 4% of annual turnover, depending on jurisdiction.

Regulatory bodies like the ICO consider factors such as the severity of the breach, negligence, prior breaches, data types involved, and impact on individual rights. Beyond fines, reputational damage can be severe and long-lasting.

Stay updated by regularly consulting ICO guidance and European Data Protection Board releases.

Practical Steps to Achieve GDPR Compliance

  1. Conduct Data Audits: Regularly assess what personal data you hold, why you hold it, and how it is processed.
  2. Implement Data Protection Impact Assessments: Identify and mitigate risks associated with data processing.
  3. Train Employees: Ensure staff are well-versed in data protection policies and protocols.
  4. Review Consent Mechanisms: Confirm that obtaining, recording, and managing consent meets GDPR standards.
  5. Establish a Data Breach Response Plan: Prepare for potential breaches with clear procedures.

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