Navigating GDPR: A Quick Guide

If your organization collects or processes the personal data of EU residents, it’s subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation lays out specific requirements for both data controllers (organizations that determine the purpose and means of processing personal data) and data processors (businesses that handle data on behalf of a controller). To be GDPR compliant, you must collect only the minimum amount of data needed from customers and process personal data only on lawful grounds. Here’s how to get started:

Getting Started with GDPR Compliance

Depending on the scale of your business, you might want to seek the services of a third-party consulting agency for legal advice on what exactly is required to achieve compliance. However, based on GDPR guidelines, your top-level compliance checklist should include:

1. GDPR Compliance Audit

• Understand Your Data: Identify what data you have, where it is located, why you have it, and ensure it complies with GDPR.
• Third-Party Data Sharing: Document all third parties with whom you share data.
• Access Control: List all individuals with access to your organization’s data and their roles.
• Data Processing: Understand how data is processed and for what reasons.

2. Appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO)

• A DPO oversees your company’s data protection strategy and ensures compliance with GDPR. This role is mandatory if any "special category" of data is processed or if data processing is carried out by a public authority. If your company does not have an office in the EU, you must appoint an official representative in the Union.

3. Perform a Data Privacy Design Assessment

• Conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to inventory all processes involving personal data. Assess the value or confidentiality of the information and the potential damage or distress in the event of a security breach. This will help you choose security measures, plan investments, and prepare necessary policies, procedures, and documentation.

4. Outline Your Data Governance Plan

• Assemble the people, processes, and technologies required to consistently and properly handle data across the business.

5. Get Consent for Data Collection, Retention & Erasure

• Ensure transparency and give consumers control over their data.

6. Document Compliance, Auditing & Record-Keeping Techniques

• Data controllers must prove their organization complies with GDPR. Document lawful bases for storing and processing data.

7. Outline and Prepare for Data Breach Obligations

• Notify the supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a data breach. Data processors must notify relevant data controllers about every breach. Inform data subjects if a breach poses a high risk unless effective protection measures, such as pseudonymization or full anonymization, are in place.

8. Document Data Protection Measures

• Auditors will want to see what controls you have implemented.

GDPR Audit Checklist

Your final General Data Protection Regulation audit checklist will depend on various factors, including the scale of your operations, the amount and types of data you collect, and the results of your data protection impact assessment. Here are the key steps:

• Document Personal Data Collection: Identify what data you are collecting.
• Minimize Data Collection: Ensure there is a function for every piece of data collected.
• Understand Data Flows: Know where data is stored.
• Choose Strong Security Measures: Implement and document data protection methods.
• Refine Data Retention Policy: Determine how long data is kept.
• Assess Risks: Ensure adequate cybersecurity measures are in place.
• Prepare for Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs): Establish processes for honoring requests to delete, amend, or access stored data.

Upholding Data Subject Rights

Organizations subject to GDPR must uphold the following rights of data subjects:

1. The Right to Be Informed: Provide clear and concise information about what you do with personal data.
2. The Right of Access: Provide data subjects with a copy of their personal data and supplementary information.
3. The Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate personal data.
4. The Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Delete personal data under certain circumstances.
5. The Right to Restrict Processing: Limit how an organization may use personal data.
6. The Right to Data Portability: Provide personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
7. The Right to Object: Stop processing personal data upon request.
8. Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making: Ensure individuals are not subject to decisions based solely on automated processing.

Disclosure Checklist

Make the following information publicly available in clear, easy-to-understand language:

• Privacy Policy: Explain your data privacy and data security approach.
• Data Retention Policy: Clarify that data is stored only as long as necessary.
• Terms of Data Transfer: Detail conditions for international data transfers.
• Data Protection Policy: Describe compliance with GDPR.
• Contact Information: Provide legal address and contact details for the DPO.
• Terms of Use: Specify age restrictions if applicable.
• Payment & Cookie Policy: Explain payment processing and cookie usage.

Registration Page Checklist

• Minimal Fields: Only ask for essential information.
• Clear Consent: Provide granular control over marketing materials and separate consent checkboxes.
• Explicit Agreement: Ensure users explicitly agree to terms of use and privacy policy.

Document Checklist

Required documents include:

• Privacy Policy
• Personal Data Protection Policy
• Inventory of Processing Activities
• Security Incident Response Policy
• Data Breach Notification Forms
• Data Retention Policy

Other policies can be combined in a single information governance policy, covering data disposal, backup and business continuity, system access control, and more.

Data Protection Checklists

Technical Data Protection

• Network security design
• Encryption for data at rest and in transit
• Access controls
• Intrusion prevention and detection
• Regular backups and health monitoring
• Multifactor authentication

Organizational Data Protection

• Due diligence with third parties
• Regular reviews and audits
• Awareness and training programs
• Management information and reporting

By following these guidelines, your organization can achieve GDPR compliance, ensuring data protection and building trust with your customers.