Friday’s Referendum result does not impact an organisation’s obligations to comply with strengthening privacy regulations. The forthcoming new EU GDPR regulations will still impact how companies in all countries protect the personal data of EU citizens. Countries outside the EU which store any personal details of EU citizens will also be affected. In the UK, the Data Protection Act overlaps significantly and already applies.
The ICO issued this response on Friday:
“The Data Protection Act remains the law of the land irrespective of the referendum result.
If the UK is not part of the EU, then upcoming EU reforms to data protection law would not directly apply to the UK. But if the UK wants to trade with the Single Market on equal terms we would have to prove ‘adequacy’ – in other words UK data protection standards would have to be equivalent to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation framework starting in 2018.
With so many businesses and services operating across borders, international consistency around data protection laws and rights is crucial both to businesses and organisations and to consumers and citizens. The ICO’s role has always involved working closely with regulators in other countries, and that would continue to be the case.
Having clear laws with safeguards in place is more important than ever given the growing digital economy, and we will be speaking to government to present our view that reform of the UK law remains necessary.”
Data privacy remains a key element of Information Governance, which must still be addressed as part of an ongoing program. All types of sensitive data including commercial and financial as well as personal must be protected to reduce reputational risk as well as avoiding the significant penalties of legal non-compliance.
There are of course many other benefits of addressing Information Governance:
- Storage Savings -Clarity on what to remove or quarantine and what costs this can save you
- Increased User Productivity – Find the right information, which was previously buried in a mountain of data
- Enhanced User Collaboration – Shared information increases efficiency
- Retention Policy Implementation – Remove files when they become obsolete
- Data Loss Prevention – Ensure protectively marked and sensitive data has not leaked into areas where it is at increased risk of Cyber Security breaches
- Migration Efficiency – Migrate a lower volume of high value files with consistent metadata
Connexus IG’s groundbreaking Information Audit rapidly delivers deep insight into the broader quality and health of your digital landfill. This evaluation of the value of different types of data leads to the creation or enhancement of Information Governance strategy to manage and protect that data. Our unrivalled combination of World-class consulting and revolutionary software enable you to identify the risks and take control.
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