Changes to data protection law, including the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, have made a lot of businesses more aware of the data that they hold on people, how and why they use it, how they protect it and what they do with it at the end of its useful life.
What happens if you fail to comply?
The laws come with significant penalties for failure to comply, with fines of up to 4% of a company’s global turnover for serious breaches. A level of fine which would cripple most companies’ cash flow and business plans. A couple of early breaches (and the sanctions imposed in relation to them) has made this a very hot topic and the UK regulator has indicated that they are expecting businesses to comply and will enforce vigorously if they do not.
How can we help with data protection?
We can guide you through this very complicated regime in a commercial and practical way. You might not need our input at every stage, but we are able to tailor our services to your particular needs, including:
- website privacy policies
- internal policies
- audits
- amendments to your terms and conditions or contracts to deal with these issues
We can also advise on the implementation of data protection rules into higher risk industries such as recruitment and service companies.
If you are the subject of a data protection investigation, we can work with our colleagues in our Dispute Resolution team to obtain the best outcome for you and work with you in the future to prevent any further breaches (which will often be required as part of any settlement with the regulator).
For more information on how we can support you, please contact one of our corporate & commercial specialists in our Newbury, Thatcham and Maidenhead offices.