Becoming GDPR Compliant
As the end of spring approaches, all the organizations that work with the EU users data will be obliged to comply with GDPR. The exact day when this regulation will come into effect in May 25. Since the deadline is so near, let’s take a closer look at the regulation itself, how it affects companies, and what is being done in NetHunt to ensure the compliance.
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation is the European Union legal framework designed to replace the current EU Data Protection Directive (DPD) adopted in 1995. There are two main purposes of this regulation: the first one is to ensure data protection of the EU citizens; the second is to expand the obligations of the organizations which access personal data. Though the foundation of GDPR is DPD, the new document features some additional provisions to strengthen the rights of the users and significantly increase the fines for the regulation breaches.
As it was mentioned already, this new legal framework has been developed to regulate those organizations which process the data of EU citizens. That means it affects all companies that deal with the personal data from EU, no matter where they are registered. Also, it must be made clear that it applies to all the organizations that process the data of the EU citizenships regardless of their place of residence. Whether your clients live in the US, India or Brazil, if they hold an EU passport they are protected by this regulation.
The importance of GDPR is that now when a person submits their details online, the odds that their information will end up in the wrong hands are minimal. Data security is no longer an issue of a company’s integrity but rather a legal matter. And the law is on a user’s side.
GDPR and Companies
Whether you are a solopreneur, a small company owner or run a full-scale business, if you work with the personal data and some of your clients are from the EU, you are legally bound to comply with this regulation. Thus, even though NetHunt offices are located outside the European Union, we are committed to establishing the highest level of data protection and are taking all the necessary steps to be fully compliant with GDPR when it comes into effect.
Furthermore, according to this law companies are under legal obligation to guarantee that personal data on EU members is stored securely. Since data breaches become more and more frequent, the server choice becomes essential. As NetHunt holds all the data on Google servers, our CRM users may be sure that their personal information, as well as that of their customers, is protected by the leading technology company.
Recently there has been some panic among entrepreneurs with the adoption of GDPR as many fear it will affect their business negatively. On the contrary, complying with this regulation will help your company flourish. Not only will keeping your customers’ data neat and safe make your prospects see you as a reliable partner, but also you can be sure your clients’ information will never be harvested by malicious users. On top of that, if you employ a CRM like NetHunt which fully complies with GDPR, you can assure your customers that all personal data is protected according to the new regulation and that not a piece of it will be used without their consent.
GDPR and NetHunt CRM
The information security is one of the pillars of NetHunt and since our system is integrated with Google products, when it came to what servers to use, the choice was obvious. All the customers’ data in our CRM is and will be stored on Google Cloud.
This world-renowned platform has gained success for a number of reasons. Firstly, the high-quality infrastructure, the one used for Google Search and YouTube, has proven its reliability and sustainability throughout the years. Secondly, their team continues efforts to make the services provided more accessible, secure and dependable. And lastly, the policy of Google has always remained comprehensible, transparent and based on mutual respect.
As for GDPR, Google Cloud Team expresses its commitment to the regulation compliance across the Google Cloud. The platform enables users to benefit from the services with the data protection capability built-in to Google Cloud. For years the team has been working successfully to align with the EU data protection requirements and the result became critical in the ongoing preparations for GDPR.
In order to ensure GDPR compliance, Google Cloud provides the following:
- Ensures that data processing clearly articulates the privacy commitments to customers;
- Offers a number of third-party audits and certification;
- Possesses confirmation of compliance from European Data Protection Authorities that Google Cloud Platform commitments are in accord with currently in force Data Protection Directive requirements;
- Enhances data export capabilities required by GDPR;
- Is committed to invest and development of security, incident response, threat detection and prevention capabilities.
Additionally, as a Google Cloud Partner, NetHunt sides with Google to express its commitment to ensure online safety overall and to establish data security in accordance with GDPR. Since NetHunt joined Google Cloud Technology Partner Program, all the efforts undertaken by Google Cloud result in data security of our users. Here at NetHunt, we monitor closely all the changes brought about by Google Cloud to meet the provisions and make necessary adjustments on our behalf.
We’ve always prioritized our customers’ data security and this regulation only strengthens our commitment to keep the CRM safe no matter what. Presently, NetHunt is in the midst of working to make sure our system is fully in line with the regulation by the time it enters into force.
We progressively implement the changes required for GDPR compliance. Before May 2018 deadline, we will have all the agreements, policies, practices and features updated to prevent any breaches of the regulation. Once this step is completed, our users will be informed of all the upgrades.
Conclusion
Digitalization has brought countless conveniences into our life – far too many to go back to living offline. However, it’s also brought major safety concerns along with online crime. GDPR resolves some of them by regulating how the EU users data is stored, processed and who has access to it.
Still, if you are an entrepreneur who deals with the EU customers, you should be getting GDPR ready to be compliant. What you can do along with using the GDPR compliant service providers like NetHunt and Google Cloud, is find out more information on GDPR here and make sure you do not violate any of the provisions.