Having worked in quality assurance for 18 years, Fionnuala Hendrick set up Secure Helping Hand (SHH) to help businesses prepare for GDPR.
Secure Helping Hand was born because I wanted to create a simple, easy to use, low-cost application that will allow professionals and SMEs become compliant with and maintain compliance with GDPR.
What is GDPR in a nutshell?
GDPR is designed to protect an individual’s privacy in an expanding online world and will replace the Data Protection Directive which was written in 1998. Businesses will have to demonstrate the processes and systems they have in place to protect personal data which in turn will help to protect people against fraud. GDPR creates a legal framework for businesses to share their personal data, offering them a new level of protection and transparency that did not exist previously.
“GDPR requires a shift in how businesses deal with personal information.”
What impact will it have on businesses?
Firstly businesses will need to determine if they are a data controller, data processor or both, and whether or not they need to register with the Data Protection Commissioner. They will need to document what personal information they hold, where it came from and why they are holding it, who they share it with and how they secure it. Businesses need to be able to respond to personal information requests within 30 days and need to include all personal data that they hold.
There are strict requirements for the processing of sensitive personal data where businesses have to identify not only their legal basis for processing but also the legitimate interests in relation to the processing of each piece of sensitive data.
“76% of people will request their personal data from former employers”
What will happen when GDPR arrives?
It is hard to think of a business today that does not use personal data.
