GDPR: What Is It and How Will It Affect Your Online Business?

Featured article by Stephanie Charles, Independent Technology Author

If you use any type of online service, chances are you received several emails about updates to the privacy policy of those services. Some of those emails may even mention GDPR, a new regulation by the European Union regarding data protection. This is a change that affects all websites that collect user data in any way.

What is GDPR exactly? How will it affect your digital life? More importantly, does the new regulation affects your online business? We are going to answer these questions in this article.

What Is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR is a regulation by the European Union that governs the protection of personal data and privacy of internet users. The regulation itself is meant to protect those within the European Union and it goes into details about how user data must be handled for maximum safety.

The regulation was actually approved in 2016 and was scheduled to come into effect by May 2018. The timing of GDPR couldn’t have been better because the recent data misuse by Cambridge Analytica – and the fact that Facebook allowed it to happen – means the new data protection regulation is getting a lot of attention.

The new regulation also details limits that service providers must not breach when it comes to user information. Protected data must not be accessible by or disclosed to unauthorised parties. Sufficient security measures must also be put in place to ensure the safety of customer data under all circumstances.

The Impact of GDPR

GDPR affects all websites and web services that cater to people in the European Union. This is why Google and other big firms sent out a series of emails detailing changes to their privacy policy. They need to comply with the new regulation in order to remain operational in the EU.

GDPR also comes with sanctions and strict limitations, so the regulation itself is very serious. Businesses and web service providers that breach the GDPR regulation can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover. Even when it is a compartmentalised company like Google, the EU can still enforce the new data protection regulation to its full extent.

Your online business is also covered by the new regulations. If you sell to people in the EU, you need to offer sufficient data and privacy protection according to the new regulations.

Some Are Leading the Way

The casino industry (rather unsurprisingly) leads the way when it comes to the implementation of GDPR. Top online casinos are already updating their privacy policies and offer users multiple layers of protection, including the use of credits for added security.

Online casinos are heavily regulated, and they are very experienced in enforcing the highest security standard. Adjusting to the new GDPR regulation isn’t a big challenge at all. Supercasino, for example, is one of the leaders in GDPR compliance at the highest standard.

Other industries are following suit, hence the many reminder emails you are receiving lately. Be sure to pay attention to the new privacy policy so you know how well your personal data is protected.