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Why is Silicon Valley Tangled with Europe’s Data Privacy?

Published on June 24, 2019

Technology

When the new GDPR regulations were introduced, many businesses mistakenly thought it wouldn’t impact them. Although GDPR is a European law, it does impact international businesses if they are collecting and using data from EU citizens. This means that companies in Silicon Valley are also required to meet the new regulations.

Here, we’ll look at how Silicon Valley is tangled with Europe’s data privacy and the impact it’s had so far.

Why does GDPR affect International businesses?

Although GDPR is a European law, it can impact international businesses to. The regulations were designed to protect EU citizens. This means, if a business is collecting, monitoring and using data relating to EU citizens, it’s going to need to follow the new guidelines.

Similarly, if a European citizen is living abroad, they will still be protected by the GDPR. This is something many international businesses are unaware of.

What impact has it had so far?

According to RSM, the majority of North American businesses weren’t prepared for the GDPR changes. The biggest challenge has been data storage limitations.

Although the new regulations pose the biggest threat to Silicon Valley’s largest businesses, the majority have remained untouched by the new rules. Facebook is a classic example here. The company has come under major scrutiny in recent years due to the way it handles its data. However, the company appears to be way ahead of regulators.

One major company which has been hit by the new GDPR guidelines is Google. The brand became the first Silicon Valley giant to face a major fine. CNIL, the French data privacy regulator, hit the company with a staggering €50 million fine due to compliance failures.

A year on from the GDPR regulations being introduced, there have been around 100,000 complaints. However, only a small number of these have led to prosecution. A total of €56 million has been issued in fines. However, as €50 million of this was fined to Google alone, it shows the majority of Silicon Valley companies have remained unaffected by the new regulations.

The challenges international businesses face

Top company Dell recently carried out a study which revealed 97% of global businesses didn’t have a plan for GDPR. One of the main issues is that companies need to completely rethink their business model. The GDPR rules affect everything from technical infrastructure, to strategy and marketing. So, there’s a lot of processes which potentially need to be altered.

Not only do international companies have to adhere to GDPR, but they also have their own local laws to worry about too. So, it can become pretty complex. For this reason, Silicon Valley businesses need to seek legal advice to ensure they are complying with GDPR to avoid being hit with a potentially large fine.

What is data privacy and why is it important?

Published on March 4, 2019March 4, 2019

Technology

Data privacy has always been of great importance. However, as more and more of our data is becoming digitized, and we often share information online, data privacy is taking on greater importance than before. One company may have the personal information of millions of people, and that is the data that needs to be kept private so that the identity of the customers can stay safe and that the company’s reputation remains undamaged.

Data privacy is the branch of information security dealing with proper handling of data concerning the consent, notice, sensitivity, and regulatory concerns. Practical data privacy problems usually revolve around whether or how the data can be shared with third parties, if data can legally be collected and stored, and regulatory restrictions such as GDPR, HIPAA, or COPPA.

In May 2018, the European Union (EU) applied the General Data Protection Regulation, commonly known as the GDPR. The GDPR does not only affect websites with the EU, but all websites that collect, process, and store data from EU residents. This law is a game changer, mostly because it puts structure and consequence to something important that has previously been taken lightly, and that is data privacy.

When information and data that should be kept private gets into the wrong hands, bad things could happen. There are many examples of what could go wrong if there is a data breach at a government agency, school, hospital, bank, or a major company.

Everything that we do requires us to have internet access and use our smartphone, like signing up for a website, sending an email, or simply searching for something on Google. All of these things create your digital footprint. A digital footprint gives a glance into a person’s online identity. Keep in mind that anything that you post online is permanent and will be recorded in some way, regardless of how many times you try to delete it. Gaining a positive online image is important for most people, mostly because universities and employers will look into the person’s online identity when considering them for college admission or giving them a job. Here are some reasons why data privacy should be important to you:

1.Safety – perhaps the most important reasons are the safety in data privacy. Cybercrime increases almost every year. Although online security measures are drastically improving, hackers are adapting to it, and they always find ways to create new ways in order to extract and gain access to data. These people may have a lot of reasons why they would attempt something like this, including stealing money or doing something illegal with the person’s identity.

2.Ensuring fairness of service – one reason to take care of your digital footprint is the fact that third parties can trace your footprint and use the information for commercial use. Besides collecting demographic information, social networks like Facebook collect information about people’s likes and dislikes in order to build a profile for you. Advertisers pay them to deliver targeted ads to people that fit the profile. While there is nothing wrong with them trying to optimize data in order to increase sales, it becomes a major problem when data is used to give an advantage in events that require unbiased decision-making, like the elections.

How to manage your digital footprint and protect your data

Here are some ways how you can protect your data:

1.Google yourself – although it sounds a bit egotistical if you Google yourself it can give you a basic idea of what others see when they search for your name. If there is anything that could ruin your online persona, you will be aware of it.

2.Keep track of all online accounts – after Googling yourself, you will have material to know how you can change your accounts or which account you might not need.

3.Use privacy settings – when you sign up for a new service, check the “settings” every so often to see what are the ways to protect your privacy and delete old data.

Conclusion

Apps like the InnerGroup Secure messaging app will provide you with the possibility of securely communicating with people. There will be no need to leave an email address or telephone number. All you will have to do is invite the person to a conversation and you will be safe and sound.