In the 21^st century, technological advancement has reached an astounding stage. Today one can perform all kinds of errands with the click of one button. It is unbelievable (and frightening) how much personal data of a person’s life is stored online in their accounts and other networking sites.

All information regarding bank accounts, medical records, contacts, addresses, and the IP address of a person is stored in a digital format.

Whenever a person goes online and creates a new account on any website or installs a new application, certain permissions and access to personal information are requested by the websites.

The basic reasoning provided by any IT company is that they are trying to create a personalized experience, unique for each user. The risk of breach of trust is very high.

Any person who uses online networking extensively stands to lose a lot if the privacy of the user is not respected by the websites. Therefore, in May 2018, a new European privacy regulation called General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR was introduced and enforced on all businesses and sites operating online.

What Is GDPR?

Many online businesses hire dedicated developers to create customized features and an impeccable website to represent their business. Mostly it is done by hiring professionals from outside on a contractual basis who are responsible for creating and maintaining the website for the company.

In this case, a user’s personal information can be under great scrutiny if certain laws do not obligate online businesses to protect that information. Thus, the introduction of the GDPR was deemed necessary.

GDPR, simply put, is a privacy law introduced in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) and implemented on all companies that have access to personal information about European citizens.

All the companies, whether or not in Europe, are under this new regulation if they are selling to or storing information about the citizens of Europe.

Therefore, businesses that are outsourcing IT services to companies such as a call center in Asia are also subjected to protect the personal data of European citizens.

Read More:- Ultimate Guide to Outsource Software Development 

Another important question answered under the GDPR is what exactly consists of personal information. According to GDPR, personal information is any name, photo, email address, bank account details, updates on social networking websites, location information, medical records, or even a computer IP address.

One might wonder about how this law will operate in a business-to-business (B2B) setting. But the important aspect of this law is that even if two companies are in contact, the individuals involved in this setting and sharing their personal data with each other are protected under this framework.

There is no difference made with respect to the role or work of a company. Therefore, a web development company is also subjected to this regulation. The main motive behind this was that the people handling business are individuals even if they are employees in a B2B setting.

Rights Of An Individual Under GDPR

A mobile application development company is under an unsaid contract with their respective users to protect and securely store individual information.

Whether or not they are in direct contact with an individual, the companies are under an obligation of GDPR if they have access to personal data. There are eight basic rights guaranteed under GDPR to a person, and these are as follows:

1. Right To Access: Any customer or individual has the right to request access from a company and also know how their personal data is being stored. The company in question must provide a soft copy of all the information requested without asking for any service charges. This is an important step since every IT company directly or indirectly has access to our galleries, contacts, etc.
2. Right To Be Forgotten: Almost every mobile application development company requests access to our galleries, contacts, and sometimes even other apps such as the camera and microphone to create a more personalized experience. But what happens to this information that was accessed once the app is deleted. Therefore, under GDPR, an individual also has a right to have their personal data deleted once they stop using a particular app.
3. Right To Data Portability: Individuals have a right to request a transfer of their data from one service provider to another in case of change. This is strictly done to give customers the freedom of choice. Most companies have a habit of outsourcing IT services to perform this transfer in a commonly used format.
4. Right To Be Informed: All the users must be informed by companies before gathering any data. It is dependent on the person whether they disclose that information. Without consent, no web development company can operate with a person’s data.
5. Right To Have Information Corrected: Personal data such as email addresses or location details can change from time to time. Hence, a person has the right to get this information updated or errors rectified in case of name spellings, etc., whenever they want.
6. Right To Restrict Processing: Customers have the right to restrict companies from processing their personal information for updates and surveys. The access is granted but not for further use.
7. Right To Be Notified: If in case of a breach of information, the individual whose personal data is compromised must be informed within 72 hours.

GDPR’s Implications on Businesses

One can say that the new law is an extension of the Latin phrase ‘caveat venditor’, which means ‘let the seller beware’. Under the GDPR, businesses now have a greater responsibility to protect the personal data of the customers exactly how in reality a seller assumes the responsibility of selling authentic goods.

The laws under this regulation are strict but not tough to follow. The biggest change will have to be adopted by a mobile app development company since it has been at a greater risk of getting its servers compromised.

But the implications of GDPR are far more extensive than just app companies. In short, all the companies whether or not they are established in the EU will have to assume responsibility for protecting the personal information of users under the GDPR norms.

In other words, all organizations whether based in the EU or not will come under the GDPR norms if they have access to the personal data of EU citizens.

Any company under this law will have to appoint a data protection officer who will be in charge of supervising the processing, storing, and securing of all personal data that a company has access to.

Many companies hire dedicated developers to build software to tackle this for better efficiency rather than recruiting an officer. The penalty under this law is up to 4% of the total global revenue or 20 million Euros, whichever is greater.

Therefore, the consequences for companies who do not comply with the GDPR norms can be so serious that the business operations might need to be altered.

Not only that, the marketing and sales activities also come under the framework of this law. The justification for bringing these activities under this norm was the use of public information for surveys, sales conversations, and other activities of marketing research.

A new policy will have to be adopted by all companies, including mobile application development companies, even though they are not in direct connection with a consumer.

The customer engagement policy is now stricter than ever in the GDPR framework. Every time, personal information is needed for a processing activity, consent will be required individually for each activity and it cannot be implied. For even things as minute as receiving a newsletter, consent will be required.

Benefits Of GDPR For Businesses

Now that we have discussed the responsibilities of a business after the GDPR norms, it is also important to discuss the benefits to businesses like a mobile application development company.

The data privacy law can be considered a biased law as it gives numerous rights to all individual users. It also has several benefits for all businesses affected, if the policy is implemented uniformly without using loopholes. Privacy is an inherent right for all and it should not be breached virtually as well.

1. Enhanced cybersecurity- Under the new GDPR norms, personal data and sensitive data both are protected and the breach of which invited penalty. Therefore, companies will now work harder to better streamline the way they collect, store and process their personal information. This will not only protect the data but also enable an organization to update its security features and adopt a better policy to deal with data breaches.
2. Improved Data Control- With the GDPR regulations, data protection will require auditing and analyzing the data. With this, any company can sort out the data as per their needs and store it more efficiently. At the same time, this will reduce storage costs and minimize the wastage of resources.
3. Extended User Trust and Loyalty- The GDPR rules make a company responsible for their audience’s data which means they will form a better relationship with the users. The consent principle will increase the trust of a user in the company’s functioning. It will also increase the number of potential customers based on a review and consideration basis.
4. Increased Rate of Interest- In the new GDPR norms, people can or cannot allow a business to process their data. This will enable an enterprise to know who really wants to be a part of their brand. After this, a better strategy for a targeted market will be made possible increasing the chances of rising conversation rates and hence increasing the rate of interest.
5. Initiate a New Business Culture- Social responsibility is an important duty of every business today. By following the new GDPR law, data security will increase and a business can be considered a socially responsible one. The new wave of data privacy will establish a new trend in the marketplace.

The Current Scenario

Since its release on May 25^th, 2018, many companies are working actively to perform and maintain personal data-related activities according to the new GDPR rules.

Unfortunately, the numbers are not very compelling. More than 80% of companies still know very little or nothing of the GDPR. Also, software development company service providers, even though they work at the center of the B2B setting in the IT sector, are in a bad shape.

27% of companies have not even started making policy changes to their business model as per the new norms of GDPR. It will be interesting to witness how they will cope up in case heavy fines are incurred as a result of penalties.

Conclusion

The right to privacy is one of the most important aspects of any legislation in any part of the world. Therefore, it is no surprise that the EU came up with the General Data Protection Regulation law to protect the personal data of European citizens being accessed by online businesses, applications, or networking websites.

Even the companies that are in a B2B setting will come under this law even if they are not in direct contact with the final user. For example, a software development company making software using market research and surveys has access to personal information such as phone numbers, names, email addresses, etc.

Therefore, they are also obligated to follow the regulations outlined under the GDPR. The penalties are heavy for defying the law and can cause serious structural changes to the business operations. The companies operating overseas but having personal data of European citizens will also have to follow this law.

The rights guaranteed to an individual are simple and must be obeyed by all companies. The responsibility for data protection is on the company, and it will have to appoint a data protection officer to supervise the handling and storing of personal data.

The consent of an individual is given great significance because of the high consequences of a breach. Any breach of information can result in loss of wealth or danger to life since bank account details and medical information are also a part of the personal information that is uploaded on online applications by users.