You may have noticed recently that you’ve been receiving emails and notifications from companies and apps you’re subscribed to letting you know they are updating its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policies, making you to wonder what is GDPR and how will it affect me?
The European Union has put together a new set of laws for protecting user data privacy on the web. This means companies that do business on the web — and just about every website and app you use daily — will have to comply with the European Union’s new set of standards.
What is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?
The General Data Protection Regulation policy is, essentially a good thing. In 2012, the European Union came up with a set of regulations to protect personal data shared on the web such as names, addresses, photos and IP addresses. The GDPR gives people control over their personal data and forces companies to be more transparent with consumers’ personal data and how it is used. By 2016, an agreement was reached on the GDPR and companies were given two years to make sure they update their privacy policies.
Who has to comply with GDPR?
Under GDPR regulations, any company that collects and stores personal data must ensure that all data is collected legally. The regulation also ensures users that their data will remain private would not be misused in any way. It applies to any company or organization operating in the EU, as well as companies outside the EU. Just about every major company and organization in the world will need to make adjustments to its privacy policies to comply with GDPR, which is set to be enforced soon.
When does GDPR go into effect?
The deadline is May 25, 2018, and all businesses must be in compliance by then. The agreement was made back in 2016 to provide businesses enough time to prepare and make adjustments to its privacy policies. This is the reason why you have been receiving so many emails and app update notifications from companies saying they are updating its data privacy policies. Companies are making sure they are in compliance with GDPR by the deadline. Social networks platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have already begun to roll out new tools for users to have more control over their data. In the wake of recent data privacy scandals, both social networks have been making significant updates to their privacy policies and how personal data is collected and used. Instagram recently rolled out a feature that gives users the ability to easily download all of your content from the network to give its users more control over their personal photos and videos.
