The GDPR deadline has now come and gone and we are all still here! Now as the dust settles in the business community, the realisation that organisations are now fully responsible for all the data they store on EU citizens has hit home. The law has the power to enforce data liability upon all organisations within and outside the European Union who hold any personal data belonging to an EU citizen, basically speaking, GDPR is real!
GDPR is real – are you ready?
What we will see over the coming days, months and weeks is that the potential cost of GDPR compliance to your organisation will massively outweigh the cost of non-compliance.
What is really important for all organisations is to understand the implications of the law and how it will affect them directly. Understanding how the organisation collects, stores and processes that data now falls on them to have policies and procedures in place to manage it correctly, in the case of a Subject Access Request or the Right to be Forgotten.
Understand the implications
The GDPR regulators will examine any organisations that are found to be non-compliant or who have not made a reasonable effort towards becoming compliant. Those organisations that are found guilty will be heavily punished.
The fines associated with non-compliance only serve as half of the potential negative consequences. Organisations that have not taken the appropriate steps may find themselves in a costly and potentially devastating public relations nightmare if they must defend their case against regulators in a court of law. The potential for damage to an organisation’s reputation could prove to be far more costly than the substantial fines that breaking the law might result in. Customers could choose to abandon an organisation that has not taken measures to ensure the security of their data.
What would the negative effect be on your brand?
In fact, this kind of negative publicity could even cause customers to lose faith in the organisation. Bad press coupled with the hefty fine could cause many businesses to crumble under the pressure.
The new EU initiative allows organisations to move towards complete data transparency is a welcome change to previous antiquated data protection laws.
Because after all, who will trust a brand that does not have the best interests of their customers in mind?
Enterprise Recon serves as a network-wide sensitive data discovery tool.
