The new General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force on May 25th, 2018, has been described as the greatest change to data protection in decades, heralding new measures designed to enhance data protection for citizens across the UK and the EU.
In today’s digital landscape, the technologies used to deliver service transformation and the ways in which the public access these new services are very different to those envisaged even just a few years ago. With the advent of the new General Data Protection Regulation, legislation is now catching up with technology.
As our customers prepare for GDPR, we’re undertaking a continuous assessment of software features and surrounding services, as part of our Agile 360 offering. This can help to reduce the time and resources needed to put the new requirements into practice day-to-day.
Planning, building control and waste services departments are capturing data in-line with their statutory obligations or “for the performance of a public task”. This means that our customers will not generally be relying on Consent as their basis for “lawful processing”.
Nevertheless, individuals may still have the right to be forgotten, data capture must be minimised and data can only be stored for a limited period if there’s no valid reason for keeping it. Simply handling FOI requests, where the council can no longer charge and has less time to respond, will have an impact on already hard-pressed departments. With this in mind, our new services are designed to help reduce response times and manage document storage as effectively as possible.
As the Information Commissioner says: “GDPR preparation doesn’t end on 25 May 2018 – it requires ongoing effort. It’s an evolutionary process for organisations – 25 May is the date the legislation takes effect but no business stands still. You will be expected to continue to identify and address emerging privacy and security risks in the weeks, months and years beyond May 2018”.
Since the new law applies to all types of organisations (worldwide) in all sectors and with customers across the EU and the UK, it will be interesting to see how GDPR plays out in relation to “local” territory laws. At Agile Applications, we’ll continue to assess how we offer practical support to customers as the real-world implications of GDPR emerge.
If you’d like to discuss this more, or if you require more information about our Agile 360 offering, just get in touch.