Comply with New Data Protection Regulation with UK Online chat provider

What is the reform?

The reform known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was planned to conclude at the end of 2015. To catch up with the digital era, it sets out to modernise effective data protection rules. The EU believes the reform will ensure a single set of rules across the 28 member countries.

The General Data Protection Regulation will effect establishments that transmit, process and store data, this could be anything from an email address to bank details, even posts on social media platforms, anything that relates an individual to their life, either professionally, personally and privately.

Businesses operating in the EU, working with EU organisations or storing data in the EU member countries are likely to be affected.

At present, the 28 member countries have their own Data Protection Authority (DPA), for example in the UK we have the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). There will be no changes in legislation as the GDPR draft is a regulation rather than a directive and will directly apply to all EU member countries. Depending on where the company is based there will be one single DPA for every company, as business has become borderless, the GDPR will also have substantial effect on those companies outside the member states that trade in the EU.

How Can Companies get Organised?

Organisations will need to prepare for the changes in compliance, to ensure they abide by the GDPR there are 5 steps to consider:

1. Appoint a Data Protection Officer

2. Research how the GDPR applies to your business

3. Benchmark compliance

4. Make policies and embark on change

5. Get the EU seal of approval and constantly review

Making a person within a company responsible for ensuring compliance is the first step for any company. For the smallest of organisations, it may be more efficient to outsource this to consultants. The GDPR is likely to enforce a data protection officer is appointed for organisations with less than 250 employees if they work with over 5,000 personal data records in any given year.

The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) is just one of the resources that reports on the changes that businesses will need to comply with ‘Making sense of European Data Protection Regulations’. This report outlines the 11 key areas from gaining consent to collect data, to fully documenting any breach.

To comply with the GDPR there are practical steps that can be actioned now to safeguard that technologies, policies and procedures are up to the job. If organisations are working with third party companies, they will need to understand fully where their data is hosted and how it is backed up and encrypted.

The next step towards compliance is through policy. All current policies that include data will need to be updated, and the necessary changes made within the organisation to ensure compliance. Businesses will also need to delete all customer data on request under the ‘right to be forgotten’ they will need to put this into place if they don’t have the capability to do so currently.

The EU Data Protection Seal will be a five-year certification, once confident in their systems and procedures, businesses will be able to apply for the Seal.

Does Online Chat Provider Click4Assistance Comply?

Click4Assistance online chat provider is based within the UK and works with many EU established businesses, with security a forefront priority, Click4Assistance constantly reviews their policies and procedures ensuring complete compliance. If your business is looking to add live chat to website and have any security concerns, our senior accounts managers will be happy to set up a free consultation on 0845 123 5871.