GDPR to Boost Your Business

Since General Data Protection Regulation has been in force recently, it is estimated that 40 per cent of them are still not fully in compliance with the regulation. Compliance process and procedure for this case in contrast to previous data regulations, are no easy issue to go through. Yet, how to view this issue of compliance depends on an organizations’ upper level managements’ perspective; one can either see it as an obligatory legal compliance issue as it is commonly done, or one can see it as a business development issue.

Requirements posed by General Data Protection Regulation, generally speaking, gives the dominance to have a say in everyday business activities to customers and citizens instead of profit-seeking or not, organization. These organizations are obliged to comply with the requirements in order to secure citizens’ privacy and security mainly. Furthermore, GDPR values the citizens’ rights more in comparison to business activities that can be more efficiently processed in detriment of citizens’ privacy and security. Right to be forgotten is a newly introduced concept and an example for this. The data under management of an organization whether the owner of the data is no longer a customer and relevant, used to be processed and used for more detailed statistics and guidance for an organization. Under the principles introduced by GDPR, if a citizen requests the deletion of his or her data, the organization is required to delete it in no time. There is only one exception to this matter: If the preservation of the data at hand can be of greater use to the society or several people or if the deletion poses a security issue in detriment of law enforcement and evidence, then the data is deemed to be preserved.

Accordingly, while complying with GDPR, companies are required to reorganize their data pools, from call records to the most detailed personal information and if required so, delete and forget some of them. At first sight, this may seem as a downside but it really depends on how you view that: It can also ensure that a company by reorganizing and downsizing its database can increase the operational efficiency of its business making. Also in such a way, it can cut costs especially in the information technologies it uses. It can make the processing and finding of data easier for its employees and accelerate its operations.

It is also clear that in awakening of recent data scandals, European and American customer bases ascribe a considerable value to data privacy and in consequence GDPR compliant businesses. Some companies have already started to brand their services or products as GDPR compliant to attract new customers and please them with the measures taken and the value ascribed to the customer’s privacy and security; which in turn leads to huge percentages of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

In conclusion, it is really a matter of perspective. Will you see GDPR as a legal issue that has to be dealt with or will you see it as a new project or operation like the ones you used for years to boost your business? Seeing it as a major business operation can contribute you new revenue streams, customer loyalty and satisfaction and also internal efficiency. Even if you are not yet subject to comply with GDPR, this kind of perspective can help you boost your business.