With the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) looming, you may well be one of the many now frantically assessing business processes and systems to make sure you don’t fall foul of the new Regulation come implementation in May 2018. Even if you have been spared operating on a direct compliance project, any new initiative within your company is most likely to include an element of GDPR conformity. And as the deadline moves ever closer, businesses will be seeking to train their workers on the fundamentals of the new regulation, especially those that have access to personal data.The basics of GDPRSo what’s all the fuss about and how is the new law so various to the data protection directive that it replaces?The initial important distinction is 1 of scope. GDPR goes beyond safeguarding against the misuse of individual data such as email addresses and phone numbers. The Regulation applies to any type of individual data that could identify an EU citizen, such as user names and IP addresses. Moreover, there is no distinction between info held on an individual in a company or individual capacity – it’s all classified as personal data identifying an individual and is consequently covered by the new Regulation.Secondly, GDPR does away with the convenience of the “opt-out” currently enjoyed by many companies. Instead, applying the strictest of interpretations, using personal data of an EU citizen, demands that such consent be freely given, particular, informed and unambiguous. It requires a good indication of agreement – it can’t be inferred from silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity.It’s this scope, coupled with the strict interpretation that has had marketing and company leaders alike in such a fluster. And rightly so. Not only will the business need to be compliant with the new law, it might, if challenged, be needed to demonstrate this compliance. To make things even much more difficult, the law will apply not just to newly acquired data post Might 2018, but also to that currently held. So if you have a database of contacts, to whom you have freely marketed in the previous, with out their express consent, even giving the individual an option to opt-out, whether now or previously, will not cover it.Consent needs to be gathered for the actions you intend to take. Obtaining consent just to USE the data, in any type will not be sufficient. Any list of contacts you have or intend to purchase from a third party vendor could consequently turn out to be obsolete. Without the consent from the individuals listed for your company to use their data for the action you had intended, you will not be in a position to make use of the data.But it’s not all as poor as it appears. At initial glance, GDPR appears like it could choke business, especially online media. But that is truly not the intention. From a B2C viewpoint, there could be fairly a mountain to climb, as in most instances, businesses will be reliant on gathering consent. However, there are two other mechanisms by which use of the information can be legal, which in some cases will support B2C actions, and will almost definitely cover most locations of B2B activity.Did you locate our gdpr training london details valuable, please let us recognize