What is GDPR and Why is it Important?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has been in the international news a lot. But what’s it all about?
In May 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation came into effect. It has been considered a major milestone in addressing individuals’ rights relating to data privacy.
What Does GDPR Cover?
The GDPR,
‘…regulates the processing by an individual, a company or an organisation of personal data relating to individuals in the EU.It doesn’t apply to the processing of personal data of deceased persons or of legal entities.The rules don’t apply to data processed by an individual for purely personal reasons or for activities carried out in one’s home, provided there is no connection to a professional or commercial activity.’1
Personal Data
- ‘…any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual.’
- separate pieces of information that can collectively lead to the identification of an individual
- data that has been in some form anonymised but can still be used to identify an individual.
Data Processing
‘collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction of personal data.’3
GDPR and You
The GDPR is about data relating to individuals in the EU. This means that foreigners visiting the EU are covered under the regulation, but EU citizens living abroad and dealing with non-EU organisations are not. The rights that the GDPR gives to individuals in the EU include:4
- clear and transparent information on how their data is processed
- access to view their data
- transfer of their data from one data-processing organisation to another
- deletion of their data
- explicit indication of consent required to process their data
- information when their data is lost or stolen
- adaptation of information to suit children’s needs.
Further steps in the Big Data Analytics: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Future course covert the implications of the GDPR in greater detail. Meanwhile:
Your task
Consider something in this article that you didn’t already know about the GDPR. Record your thoughts for your own notes.
References
- European Commission. What does the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) govern? [online]. No date [cited 2018 Dec 05]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/what-does-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr-govern_en ↩
- European Commission. What is personal data? [online]. No date [cited 2018 Dec 05]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/what-personal-data_en ↩
- European Commission. What constitutes data processing? [online]. No date [cited 2018 Dec 05]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/what-constitutes-data-processing_en ↩
- European Union. EU Data Protection Reform: better data protection rights for European citizens; 2018 [cited 2018 Dec 05]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/data-protection-factsheet-citizens_en_1.pdf ↩
Big Data Analytics: Opportunities, Challenges and the Future
Big Data Analytics: Opportunities, Challenges and the Future
Reach your personal and professional goals
Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.
Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.
