Our lives are ‘digital’ by all means. We search online, shop online and while we do all these routine daily ‘online’ tasks, we rarely think that we are leaving our digital footprint online. These are the impressions we leave online and are permanent and public records that can be easily recovered or retrieved. So, this leaves a lot of scope for misuse or even actual data theft. Personal data that users store in digital spaces is therefore at a risk. This is exactly where GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into action. GDPR brings with it a unified approach to solve this and defines clearer requirements and highlights what ‘personal data’ is, and also defines steeper penalties for not being compliant. So, what does it mean for a user and how does it impact businesses? As a user, GDPR allows you more control over how your data is collected and used. It also allows you to delete or edit any data at any time for any reason. As a business, GDPR insists that you receive clear consent to collect and use personal data as well as what kind of data you are collecting and how long you’re keeping it. This essentially means that you as a business are more accountable for the safety of the data you collect and must be able to demonstrate compliance. There will be severe penalties for data breaches and if anything you collect is used to identify a person in any way. If your business collects user data in any form, it entitles them to know the following: What data is being collected How is it kept For what purposes is it collected How long you’re keeping it These rights apply regardless of where the data is processed and where the company is established. As a business, it is hence important to gain clarity on the information you hold and why. It’s essential to know why you need to process such data. It’s the responsibility of an organization to determine how you will acquire and revoke individuals’ consent to share the data, edit it and remove it if required. How will GDPR impact online marketing and advertising? GDPR and the changes in the privacy policy will change the perspective of online marketing and advertising. Well, as per the regulations, the marketers and advertisers cannot gather personal user data and use it for business purposes without their consent. In such a scenario, lead generation and email databases could be one of the modes of data breaches. So, there will have to be featured for ‘opt-ins’ and users will have the choice to stay or leave! GDPR will bring about a lot of changes in the way data is processed in the ‘online’ business spaces. 0