If your company doesn’t take GDPR compliance seriously, you’ll be in trouble. Your reputation will suffer, but business owners could also face significant fines. It would help if you considered many things regarding GDPR compliance with your business and its customers. From what they gather and how they preserve data to employing cookies and existing customers’ permission, maintaining a good connection with the public is critical.
What is the GDPR?
The General Data Protection Policy (GDPR) is a European regulation protecting user data and giving users greater control over their data. This includes consent and data processing. The GDPR will help prevent organizations from making mistakes since they have to be transparent about the type of information being collected and how it is used. Instead of using a blanket approach for all data, you’d need to dig deeper into each separately.
How Does GDPR Affect Your Business?
The new rules will result in improper data protection and data privacy, hindering many businesses. For example, companies that process sensitive information will have to update their security protocols. This could also mean that companies will have to revisit how they handle customer consent and collect personal data. However, collecting personal information is mandatory in certain circumstances, so you’ll need to make sure you’re taking it correctly.
If you’re not handling this correctly, you could find yourself in trouble. Penalties of up to €20 million or 2% of a company’s annual sales may be fined if a business is not GDPR-Compliance. You’ll need to take certain precautions and be aware of the penalties if you don’t comply with this quantity of money.
What if Your Ecommerce Website Is Non-compliant?
To combat this problem, there are several things you can do. You can offer a way to request personal data removal and link to the company’s privacy policy. It’s also critical to check that your website doesn’t include any additional fields that may be construed as non-specific permission. You may also explain how you gather data and intend to utilize it.
You need to ensure that the information you collect is necessary and that your website is not sending private data to third parties. You can make sure that you are no longer deceiving customers by changing your content management systems. Your website must also take new measures to secure your site from hacking and spamming.
How to be GDPR Compliant?
If you’re not complying with the GDPR, you’ll need to ensure that your business gets a complete overhaul. From the way your company handles data to the rules surrounding current customers’ consent, you must improve and adhere to these laws. Here are some ways you can be GDPR compliant when dealing with your customers.
Make It Easy for Customers to Stop Receiving Emails
If clients want to unsubscribe, they should be able to do this easily. You need to provide a link at the bottom of the email telling them how they can remove themselves from the mailing list, which will help them comply better with GDPR.
This means that any customer can unsubscribe, no matter where they are in the European Union. If a customer is located in the EU, business owners should provide a working unsubscribe link that removes them from your mailing list. You’ll also need to provide an unsubscribe option in every email they receive or offer another alternative to this email.
Provide Clear Cookie Policies and Documentation
Cookies are tiny data files used by websites to store information about their visitors. Cookies should only be used for analytical reasons, not for advertising, according to GDPR. Therefore, when you create a cookie, you need to get consent from your customers before using it. If you use these cookies, you’ll need to provide them with a link telling them about the cookies used on your website. This consent could be provided by clicking a link found in an email or possible.
Provide Customers With Clear Guidelines About How Your Business Will Use Their Data
A non-compliant eCommerce website will not be able to meet GDPR requirements. Therefore, you’ll need to provide your customers with a clear statement of their data and how businesses will use them. This should be in the form of easy-to-understand policies, so everyone can understand what is going on and why.
Conclusion
The new GDPR is a big topic, but you must support it by adhering to regulations. The regulations have been in place for some time now but have recently become clearer and stricter. To avoid any difficulty, you must ensure that you follow the guidelines, which requires being prepared and understanding what you must do to comply with this legislation. This way, you can protect your company and avoid any possible fines or other complications. Visit our blog now to learn more about GDPR-Compliance.
