The Internet has a famous saying: ‘data is the new oil’. The entirety of the digital economy is built on the flow of data and information across the internet. Despite its importance, data has long been left unregulated, which has given rise to serious concerns over data privacy and protection issues. Slowly, governments have implemented legal mandates to protect online data. GDPR is a data protection regulation that was put forth by the EU and is a necessary mandate for any website to be operable in the EU region.
What is GDPR?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. Failure to comply with GDPR can result in fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual worldwide revenue for the website.
GDPR applies to all websites and online portals that involve data about individuals living in the EU region.
What is GDPR compliance?
Any company operating a website or an online service must be aware of what GDPR compliance entails.
The purpose of GDPR is to promote transparency and accountability with regards to the collection and use of personal data. It ensures that the website does not misuse or use any personal data belonging to its users without permission. It enforces a standard for data collection and usage, thereby allowing users to have the final say in how their personal data can be used by any website that they visit.
Here are the top 5 GDPR compliance requirements for an ERP system:
- Personal information of any individual must be treated as confidential information
- The company must have a reasonable cybersecurity system in place
- Any data breach or compromise must be notified to the concerned parties within 72 hours
- The company should have a specialized data protection role dedicated to the management and supervision of personal data
- Companies are required to conduct regular data protection impact assessments
The impact of GDPR on ERP tools and applications
GDPR will significantly impact data-intensive applications such as ERP systems. ERPs, which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, are software tools that are used to store and process customer and employee information. In order to make your ERP systems GDPR compliant, you will have to review and update your cyber security systems, data collection processes, future data management, data access policies, and the overall data management tasks.
How does GDPR affect HR?
HR tools consist of huge amounts of personnel data. Besides employee data, they can also contain data relevant to applicant tracking systems, candidate management systems, and your company's various HR processes. Thus, HR tools stand to be significantly impacted by GDPR policies, especially if you are dealing with employees from the EU.
This involves implementing secured data collection, periodic regulatory compliance checks, proper cyber security enforcement, and more. You will have to ensure only relevant data is collected, and there is no room for data mismanagement. The individual should have control of their data and must be allowed to remove or modify their data from your HR databases.
GDPR also mandates that you inform the concerned regulatory body about any data breach within 72 hours.
Implementing compliance with GDPR can be made a lot easier if you avoid information silos and use optimized, integrated ERP tools.
How does GDPR affect marketing?
CRM tools have become synonymous with online marketing and form the foundation of every marketing process and data management effort.
Every piece of personal data collected must be done only after gaining informed consent from the individual. The rights to data given below should all be properly enforced and maintained:
- Right of access
- Right to erase
- Right to correct data
- Right to object to the use of data
- Right to data portability
CRM systems should also consider the time limits GDPR places on data collection, storage, and use. As a result, businesses must consider preparing their ERP systems to implement GDPR. Using an ERP tool built to be GDPR compliant is a good place to start.
Is cloud storage GDPR compliant?
Data stored in the cloud can be made GDPR compliant given that you take the necessary data protection measures.
Here are some top factors you should consider in order to make your cloud storage GDPR compliant:
Data protection and security
You will need strong data protection techniques such as end-to-end encryptions and strong security algorithms such as AES 256. You should also look into the cloud technologies to see if your provider can ensure data confidentiality. Security systems such as MFA, advanced authentication systems, strong security policies, and access policies must be considered.
Data transparency
All personal data, whether it’s business-related or not, must be processed fairly and transparently. Look into the data residency aspect of your cloud provider, along with information regarding privacy policies, terms of use, and server locations. GDPR compliance can be achieved more easily if the server locations are within the EU region.
SLAs on data protection
Your cloud provider should be able to provide you with legal guarantees for data protection and management. Additional compliance to policies and third-party security auditing can also help you stay GDPR compliant.
GDPR compliant software requirements
Use this checklist to evaluate any software tool you might use for your data management operations.
Personal information
GDPR places strict regulations on how personal data can be collected and maintained. Ensure the ERP application you choose allows for such provisions.
Platform security
Look for strong security procedures and technologies to protect confidential data.
Breaching response and coordination
The application should help you notify the concerned parties in the event of a data breach.
You should also have incident response plans to mitigate the impact of data leaks and stop any further data breaches.
Specific data representative
You should be able to assign a specific data representative role, such as a data protection officer, who can oversee data collection and processing.
Universal assessment, risk analysis, and risk management
The tool should help you perform regular risk analysis and auditing.
Data ownership
GDPR supposes data owners to be responsible for the quality and protection of any personal data. Your ERP tool should also facilitate the same.
Countries affected by GDPR
GDPR covers all the EU countries and member regions. Any personal data collected from an EU citizen must be handled according to the GDPR mandates.
Personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)
GDPR places strict regulations on transferring personal data outside of the EEA. Such data transfers can only happen when you ensure proper data protection methods and the data rights put forth by GDPR.
Does GDPR apply to the US?
As GDPR is formulated to protect the data of EU residents, it can still be applied to US businesses and institutions if they handle data from EU residents and citizens.
Does GDPR apply to Canada?
Yes. Any Canadian company, NGO, or educational institution that handles data from EU residents must be GDPR compliant.
Does GDPR apply to the UK?
Even though the UK has left the EU, it has still retained GDPR compliance as part of its domestic law. The UK has its own version of GDPR called UK GDPR, which essentially remains the same as the original GDPR from the EU.
What to look out for when choosing a cloud tool or storage solution for your business
GDPR compliance is essential in order to gain credibility in the online space, even when operating outside of the EU. The impact of GDPR on your ERP tools is quite large, starting from the data collection point to every data management operation. It’s best to choose an ERP tool with built-in GDPR compliance. An end-to-end tool that’s fully GDPR compliant can simplify your job and provide a cost-effective solution to address all your GDPR regulatory needs.
Vault ERP: GDPR compliant HR software
Your search for the best GDPR compliant HR software need not be long. Vault is an ERP tool and an all-in-one modular business tool which includes HR software. Vault allows you to manage all your data and ERP modules from a single unified, fully compliant platform. You also get expert support on your customized data requirements and guaranteed GDPR compliance at all stages of data management. Contact us today to learn more.
