What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation is a new EU law that was first introduced and came into effect during 2018. It’s the most important change to data privacy regulation in 20 years.

Approved by the European Union Parliament on April 14th of 2016, GDPR replaces the EU Data Protection Directive of 1980 which aimed to protect personal data and fundamental human rights following legislation from a previous measure.

The EU, US and any other area to which the GDPR applies must adhere to these new principles.

The government should be lawful, fair and transparent in its actions.

Personal information collected for the purposes of research should be communicated to subjects in an open and honest way.

Data Accuracy and Quality

When you process personal data, it should be accurate, complete, and kept up-to-date.

It should never be collected or processed for any purpose other than the one that was specified.

Any personal data that is not important and relevant should be deleted.

Personal data should only be stored for relevant purposes.

Personal data security is of the utmost importance.

Accountability

Processing personal data is an enormously important undertaking, as you must be in compliance with EU and member state data protection laws.

GDPR is not just limited to companies operating in the EU. Any company handling personal data of European Union citizens must comply with GDPR, regardless of their location.