On 25 May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. This European-wide reform to the Data Protection Act 1998 is designed to make Europe ‘fit for the digital age’ by granting new rights as well as enhancing and improving existing rights.
GDPR will change the way we, and other organisations, handle your personal data. You are granted additional rights including the right to obtain a copy of your personal data free of charge from any organisation you may be affiliated with, and the so-called ‘Right to be Forgotten’ which entitles you to request that an organisation ceases processing of your personal data and have it erased if there isn’t legal grounds for having it.
GDPR also means that we have to seek your new consent to contact you with details of our products, events and services (known as ‘marketing consent’), even if you have already given it to us in the past. You’ve probably already received emails over the past few weeks from other organisations regarding the same subject!
Penalties for organisations in breach of GDPR are severe, with the maximum penalty reaching 4% of the organisation’s annual global turnover, or 20 million euros (whichever is greater).
We have outlined in our new Privacy Notice how you and the Society are affected by GDPR – this can be accessed by clicking here.
