The 25th May is here, and that (for the team at people.io at least) means one thing — the General Data Protection Regulation comes to LIFE. Recently, you may have noticed emails piling up from all sorts of brands asking you to accept their future communications. This has been prompted by GDPR and its tougher rules around consent. But what is this legislation and what does it mean for you?
GDPR has been brought about to replace previous data privacy legislation, which at over twenty years old is looking pretty ancient in this fast changing digital world. The new legislation is more detailed, more comprehensive, more current, and protects the data of all EU citizens, wherever the company collecting the data is based (the UK government is currently working on a bill that will mirror the provisions of GDPR post-Brexit).
We’ve broken down three of the most important changes for you:
Your personal data will be better taken care of
GDPR will ensure companies can no longer just hoover up as much of your data as they can find, or sell it to other companies without your consent. They will also need to be far more careful about how they store any data they do hold on you. So in theory at least, companies will be storing less data, more securely. Plus, if there does happen to be a data breach, they’ll need to inform you sharpish (within 72 hours) so you can take necessary precautions.
You will have more control over what data is collected
Pre-ticked boxes will no longer fly under GDPR, and companies will need to have your explicit consent to collect your data. The privacy policies will also need to be written in a clear and understandable language (you may have noticed a lot of the emails you’ve been receiving concern updates to privacy policies). Hopefully this means you better understand what data is being collected and why, so that you know what you’re agreeing to upfront.
You will be able to find out what information is being held about you
You will now be able to contact companies to learn what data they hold on you. You can also ask them to delete it (rather aptly named the right to be forgotten), or correct it if it’s wrong.
In a world where data is becoming one of the most important currencies, it needs to be well protected. GDPR represents a big shift for companies (who’ll be keen to avoid the hefty fines involved), and has been created with consumers at its heart. The 25th May is a day to celebrate when it comes to data privacy.
At people.io we’re working with companies to show them they don’t need to own and store large amounts of personal data — we can create value for both sides of the data relationship, while keeping people in complete control.
