How is the GDPR affecting Language Solution Partners?
Data breaches have become endemic on nearly every major network and every major tech and media player has been affected. The EU wants to sort out all of that through the General Data Protection Regulation. At Beluga we took a look at how GDPR affects LSPs.
So what’s this all about? Well, its the 25th of May and the GDPR is active and mandates to unify data privacy requirements across the European Union (EU), requiring companies globally (the US is no exception) to notify their customers comprehensively and requires them to look into data breach responses real careful.
The EU includes a cluster of countries with 24 different languages being spoken within, which makes LSPs more relevant than ever.
What companies need to do in order to be GDPR Compliant
There are a number of key factors which need to be secured and upheld, in order to become GDPR compliant. Among these companies need to assure the protection of customer data, handling breaches, acting accordingly and notifying breaches within 72-hours after they took place. So, within 72-hours authorities and customers need to be alerted. This already has a major impact on American Companies, by forcing them to communicate breaches in many languages and not just English.
So…there’s a lot of translation work ahead, right?
Yep, because the GDPR also mandates that it is not sufficient to inform consumers, they need to be certain that the information transmitted is understood:
“Controllers may also need to ensure that the communication is accessible in appropriate alternative formats and relevant languages to ensure individuals are able to understand the information being provided to them. For example, communication in the native language of the recipient will help to ensure their understanding of the nature of the breach and steps they can take to protect themselves.”
So customers need to be notified in 72-hours in 24 different languages if something shady has taken place. And that requires A LOT of translation work.
How is the language business affected?
All LSPs need to comply with the GDPR and not only them, their hired hands need to do the same (translators, programmers, linguists and such). They all need to work with secure translation management systems, secure emailing systems, prohibit their employees to download personal data onto their personal computers, work with NDA’s and have certain security standards in place. These include security accreditations such as ISO’s and training their staff in Data Protection, as well as being up-to-date with regards to any changes.
Pro Tip: A self-respecting LSP (such as Beluga :D ) doesn’t use free or open-source Machine Translation such as Google Translate.
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