The GDPR Compliance Deadline Has Arrived—Are You Prepared?

By: Nicholas R. Merker, Ice Miller LLP

The deadline for organizations to comply with the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is upon us.¹ As of May 25, 2018, all entities covered under the GDPR must be able to demonstrate their compliance to EU regulators. The expanded territorial reach of the GDPR means organizations in the United States must comply if they either offer goods or services to individuals in EU member states and select other countries or monitor individuals’ behavior in those nations.

THE FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE GDPR MAY NOW trigger steep administrative fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the organization’s global annual revenue, whichever is greater. Notably, the GDPR does not apply solely to commercial businesses—not-forprofit organizations, charities, and educational institutions may all fall within the regulation’s purview.

What Is the GDPR?

Put simply, the GDPR is a regulation requiring organizations that process the personal data of individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA)² to institute strong data protection mechanisms, incorporate privacy principles into the design of business processes, and allow EEA individuals to exercise certain rights over their personal data. The GDPR replaced the EU Data Protection Directive³ and creates more robust requirements for protecting EEA personal data.

The GDPR also significantly expands the territorial scope of European data protection law. Even organizations in the United States will need to comply with the GDPR if they either offer goods or services to EEA individuals or monitor EEA individuals’ behavior. Accordingly, your organization may be required to comply with the GDPR even if it does not have a physical presence in Europe.

Who Needs to Comply?

Consider the following examples of scenarios in which your organization may need to comply with the GDPR:

• Your company operates a website or mobile app that targets EEA users.
• You track and monitor the online behavior of EEA users of your company’s website or mobile app.
• Your multinational company performs human resources activities for its employees and job applicants residing in the EEA.
• Your company’s customer base includes businesses located in the EEA.
• Your organization receives charitable donations from EEA individuals.
• Your educational institution processes admissions applications submitted by prospective students currently residing in the EEA.

To read the full practice note in Lexis Practice Advisor, follow this link.

Nicholas R. Merker is a partner in and co-chair of Ice Miller LLP’s Data Security and Privacy Practice. His technology background gives him the unique ability to bridge the gap between lawyers and technologists, often translating between the two disparate disciplines to resolve legal issues. Clients seek Nick’s counsel in all areas where data security and privacy are an issue, including PCI-DSS, the HIPAA Security Rule, online privacy statements, vendor contract issues, the EU GDPR, anti-SPAM issues, regulatory enforcement, privacy due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, privacy audits (i.e. GAPP), and data security standards and audits (i.e. NERC, SSAE 16, etc.). The author may be reached at nicholas.merker@icemiller.com.

Related Content

1. General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN. 2. The European Economic Area consists of EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. 3. EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Unlike the GDPR, the EU Data Protection Directive was not a regulation that was immediately legally binding on EU member states. Instead, the directive required each EU member state to interpret the directive’s standards and pass national legislation to implement them.