Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect in May 2018 and forced organizations to rethink how they collect and store personal information.
The GDPR gave consumers a variety of rights, including the right to obtain consent from data subjects to store their data, the delivery of the information kept by us upon request, its update, and more. One of the icings on the cake rights given to consumers was the right to be forgotten.
Four years after the legislation came into force, many organizations are still struggling to maintain compliance with its requirements. The complexity of protecting personal data has increased exponentially, with more data being stored and processed on-site, in hybrid environments, and in the cloud.
Regulators are hardening their positions and are working to enforce the GDPR requirements in a frenzy. Facebook, Amazon, WhatsApp, and Google have all been hit with nine-figure fines from European data protection authorities. Even for these giants, the fines are more than a tickle on the wing.
Compliance with the GDPR requires ongoing effort and maintenance. A quick-fix approach is not suitable for GDPR compliance. Companies have done a lot of work to adapt their systems and processes to the GDPR, but continuous effort and maintenance are required.
Organizations must identify where personal data is stored, how it is processed, what they collect it for, and by what right. They must create a multidimensional map that connects all these elements in a many-to-many relationship. This map must be alive, kicking, and breathing and must allow analysis and cutting of the data in all directions and colors.
Only with a smart and updated map can organizations submit all the required documents, know the current status of their compliance, identify any gaps, and build a work plan. And most importantly, when regulators, neighbors, or customers come knocking and ask for proof that everything is fine, organizations can spread the map in front of them, take out some good wine, and celebrate life.
Data protection matters now more than ever.
Companies that prioritize data protection not only comply with the GDPR but also gain the trust of their customers and partners. Therefore, it's essential to invest in maintaining GDPR compliance to ensure the protection of personal data and avoid the risk of hefty fines.
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