Before you review, here is the best advice in big friendly letters:

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25th May 2018. The new rules are aimed to protect consumer rights and clarify laws for businesses right across the European Union (EU) but, vitally, also those that trade with it. All businesses need to protect itself by fully adhering to these changes in the law.

The GDPR protects all personal data (such as name, identification number etc) and, interestingly, there is no distinction between private, public or work roles. Despite Brexit, the UK will still toe the line on the rules, to ensure trading with the EU. Organisations outside the EU are also still subject to the jurisdiction of GDPR just by collecting data on EU citizens.

Create a managed IT lifecycle

Data can be stored on a wide variety and number of different devices in a modern organisation, from servers and PCs to tablets, smartphones, USB sticks, portable hard drives etc. A well designed IT lifecycle will look at all the potential problem areas and ensure policy and protection is in place throughout, from installation through to safe destruction at the data erasure stage.

Tips for ensuring your IT meets GDPR regulations

• Make sure your internal processes provide protection to data and can also demonstrate this to satisfy any audit of it• When it comes to securing your IT systems, speak to a reputable ADISA registered asset disposal expert to get full advice on your IT lifecycle. This will ensure you have a robust solution which will limit your risk of data leakage and the potential consequences from it• Ensure your data is fully contained and hardware is safely and efficiently disposed of.• Think about employee use of personal devices. Be wary of all access to data and, where possible, limit this beyond the systems owned by the business itself

The good news is that once your data policy is up to date, with the standardisation of rules across Europe, the GDPR should make business within the EU simpler, and consumers will be less wary about sharing their personal data.

Here at Eurieka.ie we have comprehensive security packages available and the most up to date systems.