IDG Contributor Network: The GDPR: Do you provide goods or services in the EU?

Many companies do business in the EU without having a physical business presence there. These companies have been able to collect, process, and protect their customers’ personal information with little regard for the various EU privacy laws. As of May 2018, this changes with the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What is GDPR?

Since 1995 the EU has had a directive in place requiring member states to enact laws to protect personal information. The directive provides a framework for these laws. As you can imagine with 28 sovereign states, there are variations in how the laws have been enacted and how they are enforced. Additionally, businesses may need to interact with government officials, called data protection authorities or supervisory authorities, in each member state to legally perform the processing of personal information to run their operations.

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