The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect almost 10 years ago and has since been enforced more strictly across the European Union. Companies need to comply with GDPR to meet regulatory requirements and safeguard user data.
With large companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Google all being fined for GDPR noncompliance, failing to protect user data is no longer an option. Till date, more than €2.7 billion in fines have been issued across Europe for GDPR violations.
The GDPR is a European law that mandates how organizations should collect, use, and store personal data in the EU. GDPR states what type of data can be collected, how data can be safeguarded from data breaches, as well as user rights. As GDPR prioritizes people having control over their data, organizations are held accountable when interacting with user data. Read on to find out how companies can meet GDPR compliance and protect data.
The importance of GDPR compliance
As GDPR focuses on the privacy and security of personal data, individuals have the right to know how their data is being used, collected, stored, and protected. If companies don’t follow GDPR guidelines, this could lead to multiple issues, including reputational damage and operational or financial consequences.
Noncompliance with GDPR poses a significant business risk and has the potential to disrupt operations. Depending on severity of the violation, companies could be fined up to €10 million, or 2% of their global annual revenue, or up to €20 million, or 4% of their global annual revenue.
Under GDPR, individuals have the right to file complaints or seek compensation for damages related to the misuse of personal data. This means that businesses may need to deal with lawsuits along with fines for negligence. This could also lead to customers or partners being wary of working with the company. They may hesitate to work with the company due to concerns about compliance.
According to GDPR, data breaches that pose a risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms must be reported within 72 hours. When there is a high risk, affected individuals must be informed of the breach, its potential consequences, and the measures taken to mitigate its impact. There is always a chance that the breach may be exposed publicly. This could lead to unwanted attention from the media or worried customers. Under GDPR, all breaches, even minor ones, must be recorded internally.
GDPR requires data protection by design and by default. It also gives examples and provides technical and organizational measures for safeguarding data. Companies are required to prove they are compliant; otherwise, they are assumed to be noncompliant. Data can be stored as long as it still has a purpose. In terms of data retention, companies can define a retention period based on other legal obligations, such as financial records, though these may vary from country to country.
Meet GDPR compliance with a purpose-built backup appliance
With GDPR’s comprehensive requirements, companies need a dependable backup solution to safeguard data and copies in one place, and store data for specific periods to meet compliance requirements.
Data retention: Under GDPR, companies cannot store data for longer than is necessary. ActiveProtect allows users to set retention policies to safeguard backup copies or tiered data using on-prem or cloud remote storage. Workloads can be automatically retired when they no longer need to be protected. Learn more
Data resiliency: As GDPR requires security of personal data, organizations must implement measures to protect data against accidental loss, destruction, or damage.
ActiveProtect comes with a host of features to ensure data security. ActiveProtect includes built-in immutable capabilities that prevent data tampering or deletion, and air-gapping capabilities that allow copies of your backups to be stored in an isolated zone for clean recovery when needed.
ActiveProtect uses end to end secure data transmission to store data. When data is transferred to a remote storage site, AES-256 is used.
Role-based access controls are available in ActiveProtect. This means only those with permission can access data. ActiveProtect also lets users be granted viewing, backup, or restore rights. Centralize user management via Windows AD and LDAP integration, and verify user identity via SSO and existing MFA methods configured on your SSO/MFA server. Learn more
Synology’s purpose-built backup appliance comes with automatic backup verification so that backups are verified for accuracy as soon as they are backed up. ActiveProtect also includes self-healing capabilities to automatically detect and repair corrupt data.
With a built-in hypervisor, ActiveProtect also lets companies test backup recovery strategies.
Data records: In order to keep up with GDPR compliance and better track backup activities, ActiveProtect allows users to receive a summary of their backup and recovery activities. Logs can be viewed and exported for regular audits. This way, IT can trace user activity and be notified of any hidden risks.
Cybersecurity policies: Synology takes security issues very seriously and has a PSIRT team which focuses on any security issues found in company products, including Synology ActiveProtect. If users find any vulnerabilities, Synology is ready to validate the security issues and release relevant patches or fixes. This means that users are able to reduce their risk of data breaches and can be compliant with GDPR. Lean more
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