GDPR for Startups: A Practical Guide

In May 2018, the European Union (EU) implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a comprehensive data privacy regulation. The regulation’s overarching objective is to safeguard individuals’ personal data inside the European Union (EU) and offer them more control over it.

In this article, we’ll discuss practical ways to implement GDPR compliance through end-to-end privacy management, data security, privacy, compliance, and governance.

End-to-End Privacy Management

The process of protecting personal data from the point of collection to the point of disposal is known as end-to-end privacy management. A strong privacy protection management system that handles all stages of data processing is crucial for startups. This includes data collection, storage, processing, and disposal.

Data Security

An essential part of GDPR compliance is data security. Startups need to make sure that all personal data is handled, processed, and stored safely. Data must be protected against unauthorised access, modification, and disclosure. Startups should set up strong security protocols like encryption, firewalls, and access controls to do this.

Privacy

The GDPR’s core principle is privacy. Before collecting, processing, and storing a person’s personal data, startups must make sure they have that person’s prior permission. Startups must also give people clear, transparent information about their data process operations. This includes details about the purpose for data processing, the types of data collected, and individual rights.

Compliance

GDPR compliance is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and review. Startups must ensure that they are regularly updating their privacy policies, procedures, and processes to align with the latest GDPR requirements. Furthermore, startups should conduct regular audits to identify and address any compliance gaps.

Governance

For GDPR compliance, effective governance is crucial. Startups are required to employ a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who is in responsible for ensuring GDPR compliance. An independent, experienced professional who is skilled in providing guidance and assistance on data protection issues should serve as the DPO.

In summary, GDPR is a complicated regulation that requires a comprehensive approach to compliance. By implementing end-to-end privacy management, data security, privacy, compliance, and governance, startups can accomplish this. Startups must protect EU citizens’ personal data and avoid high fines by implementing these useful measures.

GDPR Compliance for Startups

Startups may have fewer resources and less experience with data protection and privacy regulations, which can make compliance more challenging. However, startups can compliance with GDPR faster and nimbly than large corporations, which must undertake significant structural and operational adjustments. As a startup, it’s essential to comply with this regulation to avoid hefty fines and protect the personal data of EU citizens.

The principle of privacy by design is mandated under GDPR. It implies that businesses must take data privacy and protection into account while designing their systems, procedures, and services.

Read our comprehensive GDPR guide to understand the regulation completely.

Is GDPR Compliance for Startups Different?

No. GDPR applies to all organizations that process personal data of individuals within the EU, regardless of the size of the organization. This includes startups. However, the specific requirements for GDPR compliance may vary for startups compared to larger organizations.

Who Needs to Document Their Processing Activities?

The GDPR requires all organizations, regardless of size, to keep track of the types of personal data handled, the purposes for processing them, and the users of the data. Small companies with less than 250 employees, however, can be given some leeway in terms of how they document and verify compliance with these rules. They might, for instance, be able to rely on less formal documentation than bigger businesses.

Please have a look at ICO guidelines and Examples of processing ‘likely to result in high risk’ for more detailed information.

Do Startups Need a DPO?

In accord with the GDPR, some organisations are required to designate a Data Protection Officer (DPO). A DPO is an expert professional who is in responsible for directing whether the organization complies with the GDPR and other data protection rules as well as offering the business advice and direction on these issues.

If startups don’t process data at a large scale, they might not be required to appoint a DPO. However, a startup will be required to hire a DPO if it processes personal data on a big scale or if its main activities involve processing operations that, due to their nature, scope, or purposes, call for routine and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a wide scale.

Additionally, if the startup processes special categories of personal data, such as data about health or data about criminal convictions, it will be required to appoint a DPO.

It’s important to keep in mind that even if an organization is not required to comply with the GDPR, doing this may still be advantageous. A DPO may assist the startup in understanding its responsibilities under the GDPR and in setting up the necessary security measures to protect personal data.

The GDPR’s Fundamental Principles

According to the ICO’s website, the GDPR was developed based upon seven principles that organizations must follow when processing personal data. These principles are:

1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Organizations must have a lawful basis for collecting and using personal data and must be transparent about their data processing activities.
2. Purpose limitation: Organizations must only collect and process personal data for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes, and not for any other purposes.
3. Data minimization: Organizations must only collect and process the minimum amount of personal data necessary to achieve the specific purpose for which it was collected.
4. Accuracy: Organizations must take steps to ensure that personal data is accurate and kept up-to-date.
5. Storage limitation: Personal data should be kept only for as long as is necessary for the specific purpose for which it was collected.
6. Integrity and confidentiality: Organizations must take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
7. Accountability: Organizations must be accountable for their data processing activities, including demonstrating compliance with the GDPR’s requirements.

What is Considered Personal Data?

According to the GDPR, personal data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes not only more featured of personal data like name, address, date of birth, and government-issued identity numbers, but also other kinds of data that can be used to identify a person, such as:

1. Online identifiers, such as IP addresses, cookies, and device IDs
2. Location data
3. Biometric data, such as fingerprints and facial recognition data
4. Genetic data
5. Health data
6. Financial data
7. Racial or ethnic data
8. Sexual orientation data
9. Audio or video recordings
10. Social media profiles and content
11. Bank accounts, PayPal IDs or card information

Even information that might seem insignificant on its own, such as an individual’s hobbies or occupation, can be considered personal data if it can be linked to an identified or identifiable individual. It’s important to note that GDPR applies to personal data of EU citizens regardless of the company location.

ICO’s 12 Steps for GDPR Compliance

The UK government’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is in charge of upholding the GDPR and other data protection rules. Twelve measures that organisations may take to make sure they are in compliance with the rule are included in a guide that the ICO has produced to assist organisations in understanding how to comply with the GDPR. They are as follows:

1. Awareness: Make sure that decision-makers and key people in your organization are aware that the law is changing to the GDPR.
2. Information you hold: Understand what personal data you have and where it came from and who you share it with.
3. Communicating privacy information: Review and amend your current privacy notices and ensure they are GDPR compliant.
4. Individual rights: Check your procedures to ensure they cover all the rights individuals have, including how you would delete personal data or provide data electronically and in a commonly used format.
5. Subject access requests: Update your procedures and plan how you will handle requests within the new timescales and provide any additional information.
6. Lawful basis for processing personal data: Identify the lawful basis for your processing activity in the GDPR, document it and update your privacy notice to explain it.
7. Children: Put systems in place to verify individuals’ ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for any information you collect from children.
8. Data breaches: Understand what constitutes a personal data breach and put in place procedures to detect, report and investigate a breach.
9. Data Protection by Design and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA): Familiarize with the concept of Privacy by Design and carry out a DPIA when necessary.
10. Data protection officers: Appoint a DPO if required and if not, document why not.
11. International: If your organization operates in more than one EU member state (ie you carry out cross-border processing), you should determine your lead data protection supervisory authority.
12. Regularly review and update your GDPR processes: Continuous compliance is key, regularly review and update your GDPR processes to ensure ongoing compliance.

GDPR compliance isn’t the easiest task. If you are looking for a GDPR process solution that will help set your GDPR compliance in motion, contact us today!

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It’s important to keep in mind that these procedures are more of a series of guidelines to assist organisations in complying with the GDPR than an entire list. It is advised that businesses obtain legal advice to make sure they are entirely in compliance with the law.