By Sandra Quinn
Over the past few weeks, your inbox has probably been inundated with emails about the new GDPR changes and how various companies will be adapting the way they do things in order to comply.
“Our Terms and Conditions have changed”, “We have updated our privacy settings”, – these and other similar statements have been flooding our inboxes and it is all intertwined with the GDPR coming into force later this month.
The European Parliament approved the GDPR on April 14, 2016 and it will be enforced from May 25, 2018 onwards.
The regulations will change the way that companies deal with data, personal information and it is designed to protect EU citizens from data breaches.
The GDPR will affect businesses operating within the EU and also businesses who have customers within the EU.
With a number of high profile data breaches in the past few years, this regulation seems more necessary than ever.
How many times have you clicked ‘Agree’ at the bottom of the Terms and Conditions without so much as giving a cursory glance to what they entail? Chances are that even if you do read through them, they were full of complicated terms that went straight over your head.
Well, the GDPR will change that, as companies will have to set out their terms in a form that readers will be able to easily understand.
Those that don’t comply with the new regulation will be subject to heavy fines.
The personal data covered under the GDPR can be anything from a name, photo, bank details or email address to posts on social media, medical information or a computer IP address.