Ever since it came into effect on May 25th, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR has shown to have massive implications for every organization operating in Europe or working with EU citizens. Some companies have managed to comply with the regulation fully, but some have failed to understand how it all works and what far-reaching consequences those actions can have.
GDPR is all about data and how you ensure the safety, privacy, and quality of personal customer data. In this piece, we wanted to focus on how your organization can improve the quality of your data in compliance with GDPR. By doing that, you will ensure your organization’s continuous operation in the EU and with EU citizens worldwide. If a substantial part of your audience is from the EU, GDPR compliance and data quality become a necessity.
Ways for Ensuring the Quality of Data Under GDPR
- GDPR covers all the old and the new data your organization has. It doesn’t matter if the data is about customers, alumni, employees, students, or anyone else, and the type of organization you have is also unimportant. You are obliged to ensure the accuracy of the data you hold. Doing this is possible only by having specific measures set in place, and quality tools that provide data quality under GDPR mandates.
- Any old or new data that’s uploaded into your internal systems needs to be checked, corrected, and enriched with updated information whenever necessary.
- When it comes to consent, it needs to be asked for from both your employees and especially the people your organization works within your line of business. Written permission is necessary under GDPR, and it’s also vital to make sure that processes are in place that enables people to withdraw consent whenever they want. This action also needs to delete any personal data you have on those people automatically.
- In the case of data breaches, your organization now has an obligation to inform people of the breach within 71 hours of becoming aware of it.
- Data under GDPR needs to be adequately secure according to the rules the regulation has. Encryption is one of the most effective ways of ensuring data security.
- Naturally, ensuring data quality is not only about the processes and technical methods set in place. It’s also about employee training. The staff in your organization needs to be aware of GDPR rules and how the new regulations impact their work. They need to receive proper training, one that will ensure they truly know how to work under GDPR and what it means.
Key Takeaways
Data quality under GDPR is a must, but it doesn’t need to be a difficult thing to do. You only need to update your systems and start using adequate tools that will ensure compliance.
