The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
GDPR’s impact on businesses
THE clock is ticking and businesses are now counting down to the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which introduces major new obligations on businesses of all sizes.
The Kerry Local Enterprise Office and Kerry Businesswomen’s Network recently co-hosted a training session which saw nearly 170 businesses in attendance.
Judging by the level of attendance it was clear that the impeding new legislation is one of the most significant legislative changes for business in many years.
The training was delivered by Brian Honan of BS Consulting.
Mr Honan is a highly experienced information security professional and one of Ireland’s foremost experts in cyber security and he has advised various government security agencies, including the European Network and Information Security Agency and the European commission.
In his address Mr Honan focused on the fact that each and every business including organisations will need a privacy retention policy.
ALL businesses now need a solid reason to retain data and they will need to ensure that procedures are in place and must take the necessary steps to become GDPR compliant.
Honan pointed out that anyone who submitted their data had a right to know, why it was being kept, and that it would be respected and guarded and this was the reasoning behind the new legislation.
Mr Honan also explained how to plan and implement realistic strategies to ensure ongoing and continued observance of the new legislation.
The training was both informative and concise and appeared to be well received by all attendees with many business owners who attended taking the opportunity to ask various questions throughout the morning.
The GDPR legislation – which was approved last year – is due to come into full effect across the EU from May 25.