It is over a year now since the European Union’s GDPR came into effect.

This law

may not affect your business if;

You have less than 250 members of staff

You do not process sensitive personal data such as contact numbers

Your data handling does not infringe on the privileges and liberties of individuals.

However, if your company satisfies any of these factors, full compliance with this

regulation expected.

Meanwhile, let us take a more in-depth look at each of these requirements.

Does your Company have more than 250 Members of Staff?

Essentially, if your firm has over 250 workers, there are no two ways about it. GDPR

compliance is a necessity. However, if your small business has less than 250 employees, you

are probably not affected by this law.

Do you Process Sensitive Personal Data?

Personal data subject to GDPR compliance comprises information that can determine

a customer’s;

Race or ethnicity

Political views

Faith or philosophical principles

Membership to a trade union

Genetic information
 Biometric information that can be used for identification purposes

Health records

Sexual orientation

Nonetheless, GDPR makes exceptions such as for specific non-profit organizations,

public health facilities, client service firms, or personal information voluntarily made public

by the data subject.

Can your Small Business Infringe on the Privileges and Liberties of Users, even

accidentally?

GDPR reiterates the need to protect the rights and freedoms of users more than once.

Starting with the first Article, it is evident that this law seeks to safeguard the fundamental

privileges and freedoms of natural persons, and specifically, their right to the protection of

their information.

The only exception to this requirement is provided in Article 21, whereby the law

indicates for an individual or a business to be allowed to infringe on users’ rights and

freedoms if they can provide convincing reasons that override the interests, privileges, and

freedoms of the data subject.

Additional Conditions

You are a small firm that does not process sensitive personal information, and the data

you use does not infringe on anybody’s rights and freedoms. Great. However, you still do not

have a get out of jail free card.

 Fundamentally, processing data is only lawfully permitted when particular obligations

are followed. Therefore, anything that does not satisfy these conditions is illegal. You can

legally process personal data if;

The user has provided consent

The data subject is fulfilling a contract or entering one

You are complying with a legal requirement that is connected to the user in question

You are safeguarding the ‘vital interests’ of an individual

You are completing a task for public welfare

It is necessary by the ‘legal interests’ of the controller.

Any other reason apart from the ones cited, and your small business is violating

GDPR requirements.

By now, you are probably thinking you can avoid GDPR altogether by not being

located in the EU. However, GDPR is not restricted to firms located in the EU. Instead, if

your small business processes information that can be traced to an EU resident, regardless of

your location, you will need to be GDPR compliant.

However, it is not as grim as it sounds. In fact, you should consider GDPR as an

opportunity to build trust with your consumers by demonstrating that you care about their

privacy and your company exercises transparency in handling their data.

If you are wondering how your small business can become GDPR compliant, you can

use Secure Privacy’s solutions to ensure that your small business is not the next victim of a

costly penalty due to violations of this regulation.