It is wise, as a small business owner, to stay abreast of incoming regulation, to safeguard your firm from increased administration costs. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force next year, changing your obligations towards consumers. Turner Little explains how to prepare.
Protecting data
With the rapid advancement of digital technologies, consumers are increasingly engaging with businesses online. It is more important for firms to shield personal data, for British businesses of all sizes, than ever before. This issue will become more critical to you as a business leader, when the GDPR comes into force worldwide in May 2018.
Under the GDPR, you will be required to adhere to a number of new data handling requirements, as an SME owner. You will be obligated, for example, to apply stricter rules when it comes to gaining consent from consumers to use their personal data. You may even be obligated to hire a designated data protection officer within your office, depending on your circumstances, to enforce best practise.
Expanding Robert Guice, shredder firm Shred-it’s Senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was quoted by Small Business, an online news portal, explaining: “Ensuring your organisation is fully compliant with the forthcoming regulations protects your business and employees against the possibility of a damaging data breach, safeguarding against potentially damaging financial penalties that will be issued if a company is not in line with the law. Above all, acting now will reassure customers, partners and employees that you take their data protection seriously.”
Suggested measures
There are several measures you can roll out to prepare for the GDPR. Familiarise yourself with the finer points of the GDPR now, so you can ensure your firm fully complies with the regulation by May 2018, to avoid falling foul of any data pitfalls. It is also a good idea to conduct an information audit, looking at how your data is stored, retrieved and deleted. With this information, you can identify any weaknesses in your data handling system, which can be addressed to reduce the risk of beaches.
It is important to consider how to reduce the risk of data loss of theft further, by introducing company-wide data safeguard policies which conform to the GDPR. We would advise you to implement various practical policies, such as requiring staff to always have clean desks, to limit the potential for data loss and theft. It is also key to develop a response plan, so that if your firm experiences a breach in the future, you can respond quickly, limiting the damage it wreaks on your reputation with consumers.
We would also suggest that you train staff regularly, on the issues and policies that govern modern data protection. This will give them the deeper understanding they need to ensure they always handle consumer information in-line with the GDPR. You may even want to create a data protection officer for your company. This individual can take responsibility for ensuring that the GDPR is being complied with at every level of your organisation, relieving the burden on your shoulders as a business owner.
Online security
Keep in mind that breaches are a particularly acute problem for companies which conduct business online, due to the world’s increasing population of cyber-hackers. It is key that you create strong digital assets for your firm, so you can harness the power of the globe’s rapidly expanding digital economy, without falling prey to cyber-theft. Turner Little supplies various internet services, such as website developing and hosting, that you require to keep consumer data safe in this online world.
Turner Little
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agent, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust provider. You can receive our monthly newsletter by signing up using the form below.
