Hello GDPR, It’s Been a Month. How Are You Doing? MDMgeek

Hello GDPR, It’s Been a Month. How Are You Doing?

It is about a month since General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) came into effect across the European Union. It’s the most critical data privacy law thus far, an 88-page monster translated into 26 different languages. When we summarize those pages, GDPR on privacy requires companies to:

Clearly state how they’re collecting and storing data about EU citizens.
Explicitly ask to manage your data and allow you to delete any information they collect on you.
Write privacy policies in “clear and plain language.”
Disclose data breaches to the local authorities within three days

An important thing to note here is that the law applies to EU citizens’ data, wherever it resides. Meaning, if you are a North America based organization, but you have EU citizen data, you must comply with this regulation.

So, what happens if I don’t comply you ask! If you are found guilty, the regulators can fine your organization with penalties ranging up to $23.5 million, or 4% of global sales, whichever is greater. If you are a large organization with billions of dollars in revenue, the 4% fine can translate into hundreds of millions.

Current Situation:

Since this regulation came into effect on May 25, there is a lot of chatter that has surfaced. I want to note a few observations I’ve had.

Companies continue to be freaking out about the regulation
Our inboxes are flooded with emails begging us to opt-back into services that we don’t want and have long forgotten. It’s ironic how GDPR has substantially increased email spam. For many, it is a good reminder that every email we get is another company that has at least some of our data
Facebook and Google hit with $8.8 billion in lawsuits on day one of GDPR accusing the companies of coercing users into sharing personal data
Naturally, major tech companies have invested time and money in updating or otherwise adapting their privacy settings. However, many small businesses say they don’t have the resources to do the required corrections.
Some companies have gone so far as to shut down their European operations full stop, in anticipation that they won’t be able to comply with the rules
Dozens of American news sites decided to block their services entirely rather than adhere to the new regulations
14 children taken to custody after GDPR “Happy Birthday” song violation. Ok, now that one is faking news.

So, more bad news than good news.

Next Steps:

Looking back, we didn’t have an excellent head start to the law. Earlier, the 2018 GDPR Compliance Report revealed that only 40 percent of organizations are either GDPR compliant or well on their way by the May 2018 deadline. I don’t think things have changed much since a month has passed. GDPR law – passed in 2016 – allowed two years for companies to whip themselves into shape. Even with all that time to make their adjustments and notify users, the majority of these emails came in the run-up to May 25.

From what I sense, companies have done the bare minimum at this point. In fact, many are yet to comply with the law. It’s a matter of time knowing who gets hit first, for what, and how hard.

Acxiom collects up to 1,500 data points on 700 million consumers worldwide. Studies have shown that consumers are willing to share information with a brand that they trust will protect their information. In a world where data about customers is readily available, protecting customers’ privacy requires a strategic focus across the company. A complete 360-degree view of your customers and prospects allow you to effectively manage preferences and ensure right usage of the data by marketing, sales, and services teams. This approach is where an effective master data management strategy will help.

Here is some good news for those, that want to sleep well. The meditation app Calm has come up with a brilliant idea. It provides what it calls “bedtime stories for grown-ups” and it’s now added highlights from the GDPR legislation to its roaster. With it, you can fall asleep in seconds by listening to soothing voice read the law. So, you have two choices. Take GDPR as an opportunity to finally take control of your customer data. or use this App to get more sleep.

COMMENTS

3 Thoughts on Hello GDPR, It’s Been a Month. How Are You Doing?

Roger Nolan

27 Jun 2018

9:16am

Nice summary, Prash! It will be very interesting to see how all of this plays out.

monica mullen

27 Jun 2018

12:00pm

Nice summary. The variability of response is really interesting to me: From ceasing operations in the region, to throwing out all prior historic customer information that doesn’t have a business reason to keep and starting anew with data collection. It will be interesting to follow over the next year.

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