Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - Page number 49 - May/June 2021

49 ACID GDPR focus UK GDPR – do you know the rules post-Brexit, asks Dids Macdonald, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID) Since Brexit, new rules apply when doing business with Europe. It’s important to understand some of the common myths around the GDPR to achieve compliance and to look at what you will need to do under the new rules. GDPR was adopted on 14 th April, 2016, and became enforceable throughout the EU on 25 th May, 2018. GDPR meant that organisations must implement data protection principles to protect information about individuals, including customers and employees of business. The fines for non-compliance are potentially extremely high. When we left the European Union, there was a transition period that ended on 31 st December, 2020. During that transition, the law stayed as it had been when we were EU members. However, when the transition ended on January 1, 2021, the law changed. You will need to be aware of these changes in order to comply. What happens if I don’t comply with the law? Non- compliance can result in an enforcement notice preventing your business from processing data, effectively preventing many businesses from operating, together with significant fines. Furthermore, the officers of your company, the managers and directors, can be held personally criminally liable for non-compliance. What is data and why is protection so important? Key pieces of information that are commonly stored by businesses, be that