{"id":21140,"date":"2017-12-04T14:06:41","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T14:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=21140"},"modified":"2019-12-04T14:20:26","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T14:20:26","slug":"gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not new news. But it is a fact.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also fact that not everything you read or hear about the GDPR is true.<\/p>\n

For the most part, writers, bloggers and expert speakers have their facts straight. And what they say \u2013 and sometimes challenge \u2013 helps organisations prepare for what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a lot to take in. The Data Protection Bill announced this week gives more detail of the reforms beyond the GDPR, for example.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also some misinformation out there too. And I\u2019m worried that the misinformation is in danger of being considered truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cGDPR will stop dentists ringing patients to remind them about appointments<\/em>\u201d or \u201ccleaners and gardeners will face massive fines that will put them out of business\u201d or \u201call breaches must be reported under GDPR\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>I\u2019ve even read that big fines will help fund our work.<\/p>\n

For the record, these are all wrong.<\/p>\n

If this kind of misinformation goes unchecked, we risk losing sight of what this new law is about \u2013 greater transparency, enhanced rights for citizens and increased accountability.<\/p>\n

So, I want to set the record straight. I want to bust the myths. Because I know that\u00a0most organisations want to get the GDPR right<\/a>\u00a0when it comes into force in 289 days.<\/p>\n

This is the first in a series of blogs to separate the fact from the fiction. We\u2019ll be publishing future myth-busting blogs on consent, guidance, the burden on business and breach reporting.<\/p>\n

Myth #1:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The biggest threat to organisations from the GDPR is massive fines.<\/p>\n

Fact:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This law is not about fines. It\u2019s about putting the consumer and citizen first. We can\u2019t lose sight of that.<\/p>\n

Focusing on big fines makes for great headlines, but thinking that GDPR is about crippling financial punishment misses the point.<\/p>\n

And that concerns me.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true we\u2019ll have the power to impose fines much bigger than the \u00a3500,000 limit the DPA allows us. It\u2019s also true that companies are fearful of the maximum \u00a317 million or 4% of turnover allowed under the new law.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s scaremongering to suggest that we\u2019ll be making early examples of organisations for minor infringements or that maximum fines will become the norm.<\/p>\n

The ICO\u2019s commitment to guiding, advising and educating organisations about how to comply with the law will not change under the GDPR. We have always preferred the carrot to the stick.<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0Information Rights Strategy<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a blueprint for my five-year term in office \u2013 confirms that commitment.<\/p>\n

And just look at our record:<\/p>\n

Last year (2016\/2017) we concluded 17,300 cases. I can tell you that 16 of them resulted in fines for the organisations concerned.<\/p>\n

And we have yet to invoke our maximum powers.<\/p>\n

Predictions of massive fines under the GDPR that simply scale up penalties we\u2019ve issued under the Data Protection Act are nonsense.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, the UK fought for increased powers when the GDPR was being drawn up. Heavy fines for serious breaches reflect just how important personal data is in a 21st<\/sup>century world.<\/p>\n

But we intend to use those powers proportionately and judiciously.<\/p>\n

And while fines may be the sledgehammer in our toolbox, we have access to lots of other tools that are well-suited to the task at hand and just as effective.<\/p>\n

Like the DPA, the GDPR gives us a suite of sanctions to help organisations comply \u2013 warnings, reprimands, corrective orders. While these will not hit organisations in the pocket \u2013 their reputations will suffer a significant blow.<\/p>\n

And you can\u2019t insure against that.<\/p>\n

\n

This article was originally published here<\/a> and was reposted with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018. That\u2019s not new news. But it is a fact. It\u2019s also fact that not everything you read or hear about the GDPR is true. For the most part, writers, bloggers and expert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":21142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-cyber-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018. That\u2019s not new news. But it is a fact. It\u2019s also fact that not everything you read or hear about the GDPR is true. For the most part, writers, bloggers and expert […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"helena.larsen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"helena.larsen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"helena.larsen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2da837c2b8c9912d5c8e0c6ba7458c1e\"},\"headline\":\"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\"},\"wordCount\":621,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\",\"name\":\"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg\",\"width\":1120,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"description\":\"We Lead Transformation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2992,\"caption\":\"Digital Leaders\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2da837c2b8c9912d5c8e0c6ba7458c1e\",\"name\":\"helena.larsen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6016ca9d43f5e0371abbcbe533c0e129080e7032b612ef2b2c173d1a732868b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6016ca9d43f5e0371abbcbe533c0e129080e7032b612ef2b2c173d1a732868b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"helena.larsen\"},\"sameAs\":[\"louise.stokes@digileaders.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders","og_description":"The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018. That\u2019s not new news. But it is a fact. It\u2019s also fact that not everything you read or hear about the GDPR is true. For the most part, writers, bloggers and expert […]","og_url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/","og_site_name":"Digital Leaders","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","article_published_time":"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1120,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"helena.larsen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_site":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"helena.larsen","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/"},"author":{"name":"helena.larsen","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2da837c2b8c9912d5c8e0c6ba7458c1e"},"headline":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction","datePublished":"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/"},"wordCount":621,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/","name":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction | Digital Leaders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-04T14:06:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-04T14:20:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/denham_qaeciq-1.jpg","width":1120,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/gdpr-sorting-fact-fiction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GDPR \u2013 sorting the fact from the fiction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","name":"Digital Leaders","description":"We Lead Transformation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization","name":"Digital Leaders","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","width":3000,"height":2992,"caption":"Digital Leaders"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2da837c2b8c9912d5c8e0c6ba7458c1e","name":"helena.larsen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6016ca9d43f5e0371abbcbe533c0e129080e7032b612ef2b2c173d1a732868b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6016ca9d43f5e0371abbcbe533c0e129080e7032b612ef2b2c173d1a732868b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"helena.larsen"},"sameAs":["louise.stokes@digileaders.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}