What the heck is GDPR?
It means European General Data Protection Regulation .
The GDPR is a really great thing when you look at it from the perspective of the users. When a user signs up for a free or paid service, for an app or else, and provides their personal data, the provider of the service has to notify them explicitly how their personal data will be used before they complete the registration. Whether that use is for marketing and profiling, or if there is a possibility of the data to be subject of sale or transfer to third-parties, it has to be explicitly stated in advance. Users will be able to say NO to certain types of usage and will have to give consent – opt in – to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of the provider, thus making an informed choice. So, big win for the users – more control over their data, less invasion of their privacy, less spam and less intrusive advertising overall!
The use of our personal data by big companies is indisputably the hottest topic right now. The European General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR, which will take effect on May 25 2018, is aiming to do exactly that – regulate how personal data of individuals in EU territory gets collected and used. It defines what personal data is – being literally everything – name, email, username, address, phone number, financial data, age, behavioural data and more, and obliges everyone who collects and processes such data of EU individuals, no matter where that company or person is located around the world, to act in accordance with this regulation.
Right To Be Forgotten
Under the GDPR every client could request “to be forgotten”, meaning all their data has to be deleted and never used again, except in certain circumstances, which may include having to keep processing your personal information to comply with a legal obligation. An example of such obligation is the requirement to keep a copy of all invoices to comply with financial and tax legislation. All of the above things and more are on their way. Some of the items are ready, while others are still work in progress. As we are not in the habit of doing things by half, we have not released any of them yet, but we will do it before May 25, 2018.
What do you have to do?
Make sure you have a Privacy Policy visible on your website.