GDPR: What Next? Staying GDPR Compliant Post Deadline

The build up to the implementation of the new GDPR rules and the introduction of the new Data Protection Act in May was a tense one. However, just because the date has been and gone, it does not mean that the pressure is now off businesses who hold data.

The build up to the GDPR deadline meant that many businesses put a lot of time and energy into making sure that they were compliant, breathing a sigh of relief when it was all done. It is important to remember that the GDPR rules were not a one-off, they are in place permanently and businesses need to ensure that they continue to abide by the rules.

Data Requests

The reality of GDPR is that many businesses are now struggling with requests to access or remove data. It is reasonable to assume that people will use these rules more frequently now they are in place and those holding the data need to make sure they respond to the requests quickly and correctly.

To comply with GDPR you need to have a clear understanding of how and where data is held within your business, so it might be worth considering using an IT tool to help you with this. You can then go through a form of data mapping to tell you the location and format of the data and how it is transferred between applications.

When you transfer data, you need to put measures in place that protect that data to maintain confidentiality. You can use forms of network protection to protect against attackers intercepting data and encryption to be sure it cannot be read. This could include Virtual Private Networks, disabling at-risk protocols and supporting private connections between data centres.

It is important to remember that encryption tools don’t just protect data; they also offer a verification of data integrity. If needed, encryption tools can even provide a way to destroy data securely.

Data Management

It is believed that as much as 90% of the world’s data has been generated in the last two years alone, so you need to be sure that you have effective management tools that let you uncover hidden data and spot risks. This covers many different elements of GDPR compliance should you be required to demonstrate how you work.

One new rule that GDPR brought in related to how businesses respond to a data breach. Should anything occur, you are required to inform the ICO within 72 hours, which can prove tricky when some breaches of data have taken months to uncover. That is why effective software is necessary to help you become aware of any problems as early as possible. These tools can monitor the environment and create an alert when an anomalous event occurs.

Asset Tracking

To effectively protect data you need to be able to identify your assets, track them and determine the correct level of protection needed. Businesses should consider tools that help them to do this by creating inventories of assets and assigning ownership of them. When you have defined the acceptable use of those assets, the technology can help you to enforce those rules, track the assets and return them at the appropriate time.

Hosted solutions can be ideal for smaller organisations as they provide sophisticated security tools including firewalls, anti-virus, web filtering and email encryption technology.

It is vital to make sure that you remain GDPR compliant all of the time, not just for the deadline, and putting the correct IT solutions in place can help to take away some of the headaches that this creates.

If you’re looking to organise important business documents and require document storage or shredding services, please get in touch with the team at RADS. You can also request a quote to receive a free no-obligation quotation.