Getting ready for the EU's new General Data Protection Regulation
Less than two decades in and privacy has already become one of the main concerns of the 21st century. This leaves governments with no choice but to write laws to protect us all. At the same time, citizens around the world are asking who is collecting their personal data and for what reasons while organizations are struggling to keep up with new regulations and privacy acts.
Over the past several years, the European Union (EU) has been drafting new legislation—the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—which will go into effect in May of 2018. The GDPR is a set of rules for organizations that collect and store the personal data of EU residents. And its impact is likely to be felt worldwide.
What’s the scope of the GDPR?
Under the regulation, anyone collecting data in the EU will be responsible for assessing the risk posed by their processing operations, particularly as they relate to the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. And then, based on this assessment, they will have to modulate their operations, including video surveillance applications, to ensure that they are complying with GDPR-based data protection standards.
In addition to the new regulation, the GDPR also introduces a tiered system of fines for non-compliance of anyone collecting data in the EU. The fines can be up to 4% of an organization’s annual turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater.
The GDPR legislation is comprehensive and far-reaching and will have a clear impact on the security industry. In this series, we will help you make sense of the regulations and their impact as well as give you some guidance on how we can help. In the near future, we’ll look at who will be affected and how to ensure compliance.
In the meantime, learn more about the implications of the GDPR on video surveillance in our latest white paper.