GDPR compliance demonstrates your commitment to privacy and data protection. It helps you build your brand reputation and improve customer retention .
It encourages you to implement more effective data management practices across your organization, resulting in improved data quality, accuracy, and reliability.
Prioritizing GDPR compliance can differentiate your business from competitors. It will help you attract privacy-conscious consumers and partners.
Failure to comply with GDPR can result in significant fines and penalties that can impact your bottom line. Compliance helps you protect your organization from losses.
Who does the GDPR apply to?
The GDPR applies to any organisation that offers goods or services to consumers in the Member States of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).
This applies even to companies that are not based in the EU but offer goods and services or process personal data of residents of this region. If you have an online store in the US and you sell your products to customers in France, you must comply with the GDPR.
The GDPR focuses on the following categories:
Data controllers : Organizations that have the authority to decide how personal data is processed.
Data processors : Subjects who process data on behalf of the data controller.
Data subjects : Consumers whose personal data is collected and processed.
The Importance of GDPR Compliance for Businesses Inside and Outside the EU
A GDPR compliance checklist can only be useful if you understand why your business needs to comply in the first place.
So, let's discuss why GDPR compliance is so important for businesses both in the EU and outside of it:
Avoid fines and legal consequences : Compliance with data protection regulations helps avoid fines and lawsuits that could damage your business's reputation and operations.
Expand your market reach : If you have a business outside the EU, GDPR compliance can help you enter the European market and expand your customer base.
Improved data management : GDPR compliance helps you develop structured data management structures for your business. This will help you better understand and manage your customers’ data.
Reduced data storage costs : Storing large amounts of personal data can be expensive. However, focusing only on the necessary user data can significantly reduce storage costs.
Building Customer Trust : When you’re transparent about how you use your customers’ data, they’re more likely to trust your business. This helps you build stronger relationships with customers and encourage brand loyalty .
What is protected by the Data Protection Act?
Under GDPR guidelines, companies should use the web broadly when deciding what to do with personally identifiable information. Data that you may not consider sensitive may still be protected by GDPR.
The most common data types include the following:
Names
Addresses
Social Security Numbers
Credit card numbers
Bank account information
IP address
Sexual orientation
Race or Ethnicity
Political position
Under GDPR law, companies must take "reasonable" precautions to protect this information from external intrusion.
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What happens if my company is not GDPR compliant?
The EU can impose fines on companies that do not comply. Since the legislation is currently quite broad, it is important to be conservative in the use and storage of data.
. In fact, Meta Platforms, Inc. in Ireland received a hefty €1.2 billion fine in 2023 for GDPR non-compliance.
The image below shows several other organizations that also whatsapp australia received significant fines:
GDPR fines for organizations
Image via Statista
How can Hello Bar make GDPR compliance easier for you?
One of the most important aspects of GDPR compliance concerns how you collect data. If you want to build your email list with lead magnets , for example, you need to make sure you're only reaching out to consumers who actually want to hear from you.
We've created a helpful guide on how to enable GDPR through your Hello Bar account .
Hello Bar allows you to include any information you need before you collect email addresses, names, and other data. For example, if you plan to use the information provided for both marketing strategies and data sharing, you need separate consent for each consumer.
You can do this with Hello Bar. Make it clear, for example, that you intend to use the information collected only for email marketing purposes and will not be shared with third parties.
It's as easy as clicking a button. When setting up Hello Bar, toggle the "GDPR Compliant" switch to "ON
