Know the GDPR Rules to Prevent Fines

The digital world is evolving constantly with a lot of surprises to be dealt with for online marketers. And it’s always wise to be in sync with the changes. This year’s biggest change the online marketing fraternity has witnessed is the implementation of the new set of rules i.e. the GDPR rules. GDPR rules are the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations. These rules are to be effective from 25^th of May 2018.

Let’s understand the scope of GDPR rules and check whether you are covered under them?

Scope of GDPR Rules – The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. (Source – Wikipedia)

The scope of this law is extended to–

• All the residents and citizens residing under the European Union.
• It empowers the residents and citizens of the EU to have complete control over the use of their personal data used by any of the foreign companies.
• Even if any company is not operating in any of the countries under the EU but if the residents of EU are able to access the website of any foreign company or if the company has by any means approached the citizens for selling or buying initiatives, they must strictly comply with the GDPR laws and regulations.

Penalties and Fines imposed on being non-compliant to GDPR

For the foreign companies that are non-compliant with the EU directive, will be heavily penalized for €20 Million or 4% of the annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

You may also lose a potential customer base residing in the EU. You may also not be able to sell them anything or even monetize from them in the form of advertisements or any other promotional means.

Get ready to deal with the BIG GDPR Regulations!

GDPR will be effective starting 25^th of May 2018 and all companies you have their direct or indirect dealings with the residents and citizens of EU must get prepared for being compliant to the stated rules and regulations.

• You need to get your Privacy Policy reframed and updated as per the GDPR Regulations.
• You must clearly mention the use of any 3^rd party cookies to detect the IP address of the visitors, the storage mechanisms deployed and how this data is used for and what are the safety protocols taken to avoid any misuse of the data.
• You need to mention that how and for what marketing activities the personal data like, name, email, mobile number, address, business address and other details is collected and how it is used.
• If you have hired services of any of the 3^rd party vendors like a CRM or an autoresponder tool who have access to the critical natured user data, then what safety directives you are following to avoid theft and misuse of data.
• If the user at any given time asks for the deletion of all his personal details shared, then he/she must be handed over all the data collected and must be assured with the deletion of all the data from your end.
• If the user at any given time asks for the complete process followed for safety measures taken to preserve user data from theft or any illegal misuse, he/she must be given a detailed and satisfactory answer.

Rather than finding any exceptions to the GDPR regulations, it’s wise that you get prepared for being compliant to the new regulations.