The Best Places To Learn About Data Protection For Your Business

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into effect in May 2018 are tough EU laws for the data protection and privacy of all European citizens. All businesses that are in the European Union or the European Economic Area (EEA) must comply with these regulations or face potentially huge fines. 

In simpler terms, any business that collects, stores, and uses the personal data of EU citizens must follow these rules. We have been providing IT assistance to businesses in the Eu for over two decades. This includes all information, whether that’s the details of customers, staff, third parties, or account holders. Some of the basic rules under GDPR include:

• Asking for explicit consent when collecting data 
• Protecting personal data and making sure it is accurate and up to date
• When collecting data, informing the individual on how the data will be used 
• Dealing with requests from individuals to see what information you hold on them and deleting this information if requested

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of aspects to GDPR that are essential for businesses if they hope to collect and use data securely, without the risk of a fine. And this can be understandably overwhelming, with compliance now written into the law. 

The good news is, with so many people having to learn about GDPR and ensure they're following the rules, there is plenty of support out there to help you and your business gain a better understanding of data protection. In this guide, we’ll look at five of the best ways you can learn about GDPR, share your knowledge with your workforce, and ensure your business is compliant. So let’s get started. 

1. Reading the official guidelines 

If you're hoping to understand GDPR, one of the most obvious places to start is going to be the EU’s official guidelines. GDPR.eu has been set up as a helpful resource to all businesses or individuals who may need to learn about these regulations or reference them in any way. 

The website offers a library of simple and up to date information on GDPR to help businesses ensure they are 100% compliant. You can access these materials at any time to help grow your understanding. As data protection strategies and regulations are always changing, using the official guidelines means you’ll be getting the most relevant and up to date information (unlike some other older sites). 

What’s more, gov.uk also offers some official government guidance on GDPR. There are hundreds of articles on the site and some helpful resources in their archives, but most importantly is the Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation pdf which you can download and save. 

2. Using the Information Commissioner’s Office 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the regulatory body for GDPR in the UK and is responsible for enforcing data protection laws. These are the people who hand out fines as a result of data breaches or lack of GDPR compliance. Because of this, they also offer a lot of information about data protection guidelines to help businesses get compliant. They offer a huge library of information that covers a company’s obligations and what they need to do to comply with regulations. You can check out all their resources, here. 

3. Taking an online course 

Because GDPR is so important, businesses must ensure that every member of staff has at least a basic understanding of these regulations and that those in senior, security and IT roles have an even deeper knowledge of the laws. For this reason, a number of online training courses have been created to help people get educated about GDPR. 

These can be used in two ways depending on the size of your team and your preferred training methods. Firstly, employers and senior staff can take these courses themselves and develop a strong knowledge of everything GDPR. They can then pass this knowledge on to the rest of their team through training sessions. 

Alternatively, they can invest in courses for every member of staff (or for those responsible for the company’s security efforts). This way everyone will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of GDPR and in many cases, take an assessment at the end of the training to make sure they’ve taken everything on board. 

4. Hiring a consultant

If you're looking for a little more support on your GDPR journey, you could hire a consultancy to help you along the way. These consultants offer a range of services with regards to data protection and educating your business on GDPR best practices. 

Most offer advisory services that help you with compliance and maintenance, whilst helping to grow your knowledge of the regulations. You can also hire companies to run GDPR gap analysis or to implement new security strategies for you. But if you're thinking of hiring a consultant, be sure to do your research and make sure you find the right provider for you, who offers all the services you're going to need.   

5. Reading articles and guides online 

There are also hundreds (in fact, probably thousands) of articles, blog posts, white papers and resources online that cover a huge range of GDPR topics. A simple internet search will show pages and pages of relevant content, all of which can help you to learn about data protection for your business. 

So, if you have a specific question, why not run an internet search. You might also benefit from pooling the most helpful resources together and putting them somewhere accessible for your whole team. This way, they too can dip in and out if they are ever feeling unsure about an aspect of GDPR. 

It’s time to learn about data protection

If you run a business, it’s vital that both you and your workforce have a solid knowledge of data protection and GDPR. As you can see, there are plenty of resources available to help you learn, or you can hire a consultant or take an online course. Just be sure that you're always updating your knowledge as things continue to change, particularly as the UK plans its exit from the EU. The developers associated with us have been taking care of data protection and security to deliver the best results.