GDPR Compliance: Major Concerns and Challenges

Poulami B |

11th September 2019

An Overview

Nowadays, companies like Facebook, Google, etc. swap access to consumer’s data for various purposes. A series of data leaks in the past years has raised consumer awareness and led organizations to seek data privacy and protection solutions. Thus, the European Union has established GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) to strengthen data privacy and processing policies across Europe. The act regulates controllers of personal data and puts in place security measures to safeguard sensitive information.

Ernst & Young's 2018 survey reveals that 39% of business leaders are unfamiliar with GDPR. Various organizations are facing challenges to implement the necessary changes, manage and store data as per GDPR compliance.

Let’s explore some of the major concerns and challenges faced by companies to stay GDPR compliant.

Key Benefits of GDPR Compliance for Businesses

GDPR compliance
  • Enhanced Data Security

  Virtualization, cloud computing, and IoT are the latest technologies that can manage data demand effectively, enhancing the user experience. With third-party management tools, organizations can constantly monitor their new environment for data breach and analyze the log information. The tool sends an automated notification to the companies on the detection of anonymity, thereby ensuring data security. The third-party tools also check the integrity of files and folders, endpoint devices, and applications.  
  • Reduced Maintenance Costs

  Complying with the GDPR eliminates the need for data inventory software and legacy applications. It also reduces the cost of storing data by consolidating information that is stored in inconsistent formats. Another benefit of GDPR is that organizations are able to engage with customers effectively. The personalized communication developed by collecting granular information saves the cost and time of pursuing uninterested consumers.  
  • Better Decision-Making

  The GDPR mandates the right to obtain human intervention, thereby improving decision making. It also provides insights into customer data and assesses the areas where customer needs are not fulfilled. Getting hands-on customer information enables organizations to make better decisions and get increased returns.  

GDPR Compliance Challenges for Businesses

  • Data Storage and Access

  Determining the location of personal data across multiple sources can be challenging for businesses. It is, therefore, essential to continuously assess data location and accessibility to avoid data breach or leakage. As per the GDPR compliance regulations, businesses should audit all information sources and monitor other aspects of data security. Monitoring data accessibility will enable businesses to check whether the data are in the right hands or not.  
  • Team Compliance and Training

  Businesses and employees need to understand GDPR and it’s implications on business processes. As per the GDPR, businesses should maintain transparency in data usage and be more careful in sharing confidential information. Therefore it is essential to conduct training and compliance sessions on critical data sharing among the teams. It is specifically important to train customer service representatives to tackle data sharing queries and update legal teams on any problems.  
  • Data Subject Requests

  “Data subject rights” is one of the challenges of GDPR. Under the new regulation, data subjects have the right to obtain:
  1. the purposes of the processing.
  2. the categories of personal data concerned.
  3. the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed.
  4. the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
Businesses should be prepared to receive a significant amount of data subject requests by analyzing their processes and implementing changes. Using a data science platform can process data subject requests automatically while maintaining transparency within the team.  Businesses need to assess their internal systems, take measures to fill the loopholes and avoid GDPR violations resulting in hefty penalties.  
  • Privacy Policies

  According to GDPR, the privacy terms should be concise, transparent and written in simple language. The existing privacy notices should be clear and understandable to avoid any discrepancies or confusion.

Concluding Thoughts

GDPR is an EU law for data protection which promises data security in the digital age to all EU citizens. Businesses can reduce cyber-attacks, data breaches and more by staying GDPR compliant. GDPR is beneficial for businesses and consumers, but it also has certain challenges.  We at Oodles, provide GDPR compliant data protection services to global businesses. Our experts keep your business aligned with the latest GDPR to strengthen data privacy protection and drive business benefits. Our team follows a methodological approach to not leave any loopholes for effective data protection and privacy. Talk to our data analysts to overcome GDPR compliance challenges.

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Poulami B |

3rd September 2019

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