Assessing your level of GDPR compliance is a critical step in ensuring that all personal data within the organisation is protected adequately and used in a manner as per GDPR guidelines. These assessments often come in the form of GDPR audits which are an essential tool to help identify and resolve any compliance gaps and ensure your entire organisation is on the same page when it comes to GDPR compliance.

An organisations biggest asset can also be their biggest risk: Employees. Organisations must ensure that their policies and procedures relating to data protection are being followed closely by all stakeholders inside the business. Hackers are so technologically sophisticated nowadays that they can access highly restricted information stemming from something as minuscule as an employee using the same password for both personal and work logons. As a result, organisations need to have a heightened sense of awareness and visibility when it comes to protecting their personal data, and ensuring that they are meeting the requirements of GDPR on an ongoing basis.

Being compliant is not a once-off exercise.

Audits are a key component of monitoring and analysis, and allow senior management to get a much deeper understanding of how compliant their organisation is in relation to the 99 articles of the GDPR (where applicable).

What does GDPR mean for EU businesses?

Data Protection is a priority for any organisation handling data, but the EU General Data Protection Regulation has brought a tougher data protection regime and requires adequate procedures in place followed by a more comprehensive data security strategy. Although companies have started preparing for the transition before the regulation came in, numerous businesses are still finding themselves unprepared for full compliance.

Data protection by design. Controllers must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures and procedures. These ensure that processing safeguards the rights of the data subject by design.

Fines

EU GDPR allows for fines of up to €20 million or 4% of total worldwide annual turnover (whichever is higher). It requires data controllers to put in place technical and organisational measures which would “ensure an appropriate level of security, taking into account the state of the art and the costs of their implementation in relation to the risks inherent in the processing and the nature of the data to be protected”.

Data Protection Officer.

GDPR requires data controllers and processors to designate a DPO in any case where:

• The processing is carried out by a public authority or body
• The ‘core activities’ of the controller/processor consist of processing operations. These ‘require regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale’
• The core activities of the controller/processor consist of processing on a large scale. They are ‘special categories of data’ or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences

Not sure whether your organisation fully complies with GDPR?

We are now offering a free assessment to help you evaluate your current compliance level.

What you get:

• A basic overview of your current compliance level
  Key aspects of the regulation
  Get 10% off GDPR services

Contact our experts at Smarttech247 today and schedule a free consultation and discuss.