What is GDPR?
Last updated
Last updated
On 25 May 2018, the became law across the European Union. Many other countries and jurisdictions are following suit with similar privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
We welcome GDPR as we believe that strong regulation is needed at a global level to ensure all businesses take the protection of people’s data seriously.
We like the 'principles based' approach to data protection which GDPR takes. It provides a robust and practical framework for addressing data protection matters. It is also aligned with our core values of giving individuals more control over their data whilst also keeping is safe.
The GDPR regulates the “processing” of personal data for citizens of EU countries. Any organization that processes personal data of EU individuals is within the scope of the law.
Preignition Limited is located in the UK which is no longer a member of the EU. However, according to GDPR law, it does not matter whether the organization has a physical presence in the EU or not.
The key changes are the following:
Expanded data privacy rights for EU individuals, data breach notification and added security requirements for organizations, as well as customer profiling and monitoring requirements.
GDPR also includes binding Corporate Rules for organizations to legalize transfers of personal data outside the EU, and a 4% global revenue fine for organizations that fail to adhere to the GDPR compliance obligations.
Overall the GDPR provides a central point of enforcement by requiring companies to work with a lead supervisory authority for cross-border data protection issues.
GDPR concerns the 'processing' of 'personal data' of 'data subjects' by data 'controllers’ and data 'processors’. There are more stringent rules concerning the processing of 'sensitive personal data'
Processing- This includes collection, storage, transfer, or use of data.
Personal data- GDPR defines the notion of “personal data” very broadly, which covers any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual
Sensitive personal data- essentially any personal data which relates to any of the following:
racial or ethnic origin
political opinions
religious beliefs
trade union membership
health (physical or mental)
sexual activity
genetic and biometric data
Data subject- Data subject refers to any individual person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, via an identifier such as a name, an ID number, location data, or via factors specific to the person's physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.
Controller- Controllers are the main decision-makers – they exercise overall control over the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. Processors act on behalf of, and only on the instructions of, the relevant controller. If you use our services to create surveys and collect data from Respondents, you will be the controller for this data.
Processor- Processors are responsible for processing personal data on behalf of a controller. GDPR places specific legal obligations on processors; for example, they are required to maintain records of personal data and processing activities and have legal liability if they are responsible for a breach. If you use our services to create survets and collect data from Respondents, we are the processor for this data.
Article 5(1) requires that personal data shall be: ****
“(a) processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’);
(b) collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes (‘purpose limitation’);
(c) adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimisation’);
(d) accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay (‘accuracy’);
(e) kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by the GDPR in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals (‘storage limitation’);
(f) processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures (‘integrity and confidentiality’).”
Article 5(2) adds that:
“The controller shall be responsible for, and be able to demonstrate compliance with, paragraph 1 (‘accountability’).”
The principles lie at the heart of the GDPR. They are set out right at the start of the legislation, and inform everything that follows. They don’t give hard and fast rules, but rather embody the spirit of the General Data Protection Regulation - and as such there are very limited exceptions.
Compliance with the spirit of these key principles is therefore a fundamental building block for good data protection practice. It is also key to your compliance with the detailed provisions of the GDPR.
sets out seven key principles which lie at the heart of the General Data Protection Regulation .
More detail on each principle is provided in the .