How ‘GDPR Compliant’ do you think you are?

GDPR, May 25^th. It’s on the news, the radio, it was the headline on the business supplement of your broadsheet last Sunday- and just this morning your ATM machine reminded you that ‘GDPR is coming.’ These strategies may come across to some as a tad dramatic, and even may provoke remarks that the messages are beginning to sound quite like a promotion for the new season of Games of Thrones. Jokes aside however, these headlines aim to be hard-hitting for a multitude of important reasons and failure to take this regulation seriously will leave very few business owners laughing.

The aim of the GDPR is to protect citizen’s privacy. The GDPR regulation requires that all businesses in the EU must receive explicit consent from their customers in order to keep their data on file and permission to further contact them. The sneaky pre-ticked “opt-in” subscription button we have all fell for at least once when rushing to secure a coveted match ticket or panic shopping for last minute Christmas presents are now a thing of the past. In order to gain explicit consent, customers and page users must willingly, and knowingly sign up for future communications. Failure to do so, may cost your company fines of up to €20m or 4% of annual turnover- a very serious fine for an exceptionally avoidable matter.

Now you know the importance of adhering to GDPR, your next step is developing a company-wide GDPR compliant strategy. How do you begin? When it comes to data destruction, how do you know you are making the best choice for your business?

‘Free’ ITAD- is it as ‘cost-free’ as it sounds?

‘Free’ ITAD services are just one click of the mouse away. Dozens of providers advertise these services at an extremely minimal or zero price cost. With the pressure companies often face to cut costs and reduce their budgets where possible- it is understandable that these ‘free’ services are an attractive temptation. We can sometimes ignore the warnings signs that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If the price is right- where does the ‘cost’ really lie? Frankly, if a service provider is offering you free e-waste disposal, the chances are this provider does not possess the required legal licence to do so. In many cases, these providers are also not compliant with the WEEE directive. With GDPR looming, data destruction is now in more demand than ever. Can you really be sure your data is being disposed of securely?

When it comes to data protection, cutting corners should never be an option. The cost of free ITAD services may come at the cost of your organisation. Many of these services offer free ITAD as they make up the profit by reselling customer company assets to the global market, specifically the developing markets. In many cases, free ITAD services do not undertake data destruction to the same standards of established licensed and secure companies such as Wisetek. Lack of customer security means your customers could be exposed to identify theft and their data manipulated for illegal purposes.

Wisetek not only maintain a proud partnership with WEEE Ireland but are currently Ireland’s only WEEELABEX certified IT asset specific disposal company. Don’t take the risk. Get the consent or face the consequence.

Enquire today and receive a quote for our data destruction services: http://wisetek.net/ie/data-destruction/