County Kildare Chamber are hosting a symposium on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) on Thursday 3rd May. Heralding a new era in the regulation of personal data processing in Europe, the GDPR amplifies and expands the rights of individuals to control how their personal information is collected and processed and places new obligations squarely on the shoulders of organisations that collect personal data.
Allan Shine, CEO of the Chamber said, “For businesses to be GDPR compliant, it can be both very costly and time consuming. Whilst the majority of large businesses are compliant or on the journey to compliance, the majority of small businesses are not yet engaging in this complex new regulation that comes into force in May. We have being hosting several lunch and learn seminars with our newly Certified Data Protection Officer in the Chamber, Alison Redmond who recently completed a Professional Diploma in Data Protection accredited by UCD.”
Shine continued by saying, “Businesses must be ready for the May 2018 deadline to have in place new standards for consent and the range of accountability requirements set out under the new law. Companies will no longer be able to sit on their hands and plead ignorance as non-compliance will result in substantial fines of up to €20million or 4% of annual turnover along with potential reputational damage and public scrutiny over data protection shortfalls. But, every challenge also presents opportunity and compliance with GDPR allows you to present yourself as ethical, trustworthy and responsible.”
Emerald De Leeuw, CEO of EuroComply is the key note speaker at the Chamber GDPR breakfast symposium. Emerald is an internationally recognised Data Protection specialist (BBC, Bloomberg, and Irish Times). Emerald is also a lecturer at the Law Society of Ireland on the Technology Law and Data Protection Courses and she is Harvard Law certified in Intellectual Property
Shine concluded by saying, “We strongly encourage all businesses in Kildare to prepare for this new legislation ahead of the May 25th deadline. Our symposium on the 3rd May will inform businesses how to prepare for GDPR and we will continue to hold regular seminars on this matter to assist businesses in this process.”