The world is a digital one, and unavoidably so. The breakneck pace of technological innovation has led us to a point where nearly every UK adult has a smartphone in their pocket, and where entire social lives are managed via digital spaces via social media platforms and multimedia chat sites. Businesses cannot turn a blind eye to the digital revolution – it’s here to stay.
The existence of digital spaces, and the reliance of businesses of all kinds on them poses unique problems for businesses. Data is valuable, and should be treated as such.
1. Why Data Privacy Matters for Start-Ups
As a new start-up of any kind, you can expect to be handling digital information in one form or another. You might be keeping employee information on a computer; you might be holding private and personal information in relation to the creation of online customer accounts; your entire business model might revolve around the creation and hosting of information. Whatever your discipline, data privacy remains of key importance for you to understand.
Failure to properly manage data given, received or otherwise harvested can lead to major issues for any business, particularly with regard to legal repercussions. Failure to properly comply with data privacy law can be costly from a criminal perspective, as well as with respect to reputation and ongoing trade.
2. Key Data Privacy Regulations You Need to Know
The overarching piece of data privacy law, with which you may already be somewhat familiar, is that of the General Data Protection Regulation – or GDPR for short. This is a European Union regulation, that defines and describes the protection of personal data on- and off-line.
Though the UK has left the EU, and is no longer beholden to overarching EU regulation such as this, a national analogue using the same frameworks remains; this is the Data Protection Act 2018, which is the primary piece of legislation with which you should be familiar as a start-up business.
Failure to comply with the Data Protection Act is by no means ground for custodial sentencing, much to the relief of many less-prepared CEOs out there. Rather, financial penalties are imposed – with potential maximum fines of £8.7 million or £17.5 million depending on the severity of the non-compliance.
3. Integrating Data Privacy into Your Business Model
How, then, should you approach compliance with the Data Protection Act? Understanding it is your first port of call, as the responsibilities set upon you by the legislation are clear enough to understand from the text itself. Ultimately, any personal and sensitive information should be kept to a necessary minimum, handled carefully and transparently, and handled with accountability in mind. As the CEO of your own start up, you will inevitably be a ‘data controller’ in the eyes of the law, and hence responsible for failures to properly and sensitively handle and store information.
