How Does GDPR Affect Us?
It’s been described as ‘Data D-Day’ and has business owners and industry experts alike panicking as confusion reigns. But what is GDPR and how could it affect your business?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation and refers to new laws about how data is stored that will come into effect in May 2018, replacing the 1998 Data Protection Act. This looming deadline is causing huge consternation in the data industry, with its impact unknown at this stage.
Part of the reason for the uncertainty around GDPR’s introduction is due to the UK’s impending exit from the European Union. This means that there is doubt as to whether data stored in EU countries (as opposed to the UK) will meet the data sovereignty regulations that will come into force under Brexit.
The GDPR not only applies to all organisations located within the EU, but it will also apply to organisations located outside the EU if they offer goods or services to EU data subjects – meaning many businesses will still need to remain compliant to the new GDPR laws. This is important as many organisations do no realise they will be effected by the regulations from selling their goods and services to EU Citizens. After Brexit EU countries may have different local laws about data storage than the UK – this will create legal confusion once Brexit has been completed.
The consensus among industry experts seems to be that, due to this legal grey area, the best option for British businesses is to store their data with UK-based companies offering secure cloud backup solutions in order to avoid falling foul of GDPR’s local data storage laws.
Mark Hohenberg of Hosting Techniques Limited recently gave a good summary of the situation when he told Prodec, “The safest thing for businesses that have data stored on the continent is to simply migrate it to UK-based data centres that are owned or managed by UK-based companies.”
Here at Safe Data Storage, all data is stored in the UK. Our main server is located in London, with all data replicated to another server in Bournemouth; therefore you can be safe in the knowledge that your data never leaves the country. Both of our data centres are ISO 27001-accredited.
In addition, we are taking a number of steps in preparation of GDPR’s introduction In order to ensure we are fully GDPR compliant. For example, we have appointed a Privacy Officer to work alongside employees and clients. You can read more about our GDPR preparation here.
For businesses considering data storage options, the priority should be finding a company providing UK-based, GDPR-compliant cloud backup. Remove the risk and confusion of storing your data in another country post-Brexit and see how we can keep your data safe today with secure storage.
If you have any questions about GDPR or would like help with finding the best data storage solution for your business, contact us today.
