Course to prepare for GDPR

Managing director Philip Allott is one of a handful of GDPR practitioners operating in the region. (S)

The new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), a 266-page piece of legislation which comes into force from May 25, places a far greater burden on companies managing and storing personal data.

In response, Knaresborough-based PR and marketing agency Allott and Associates has organised a GDPR training course at Goldsborough Hall on Tuesday, February 27.

Managing director Philip Allott, one of a small number of qualified GDPR practitioners, said: “GDPR is wrapped around a number of key data processing principles.

“Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. It should be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. It must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.

“For many small firms who are not lawyers, interpreting GDPR and the legalistic terminology to decide what business changes are needed prior to May 2018 is likely to prove highly challenging.”

All businesses, public sector organisations and, from 2019, charities will be affected. Those who contravene the rules may not only be named and shamed, but also fined.

The responsibility for policing the new regulations will be the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which in extreme cases of data breach will have the right to impose fines of up to four per cent of a business’s turnover, or €20m, whichever is the greatest.