What is GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation?

The GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). It also talks about the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA areas. The primary aim of GDPR is to give teh control over the personal data to each individuals and simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.

 

Why is GDPR important?

The biggest importance of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the improvement of European data subjects rights protection and the clarification of how personal data has to be processed and protected. It is extremely important to comply with this law as the consequences can be massive penalties of up to €20m or even as much as four percent of the global revenue of the company.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented by the European Union (EU) in May 2018, safeguards the personal data of EU citizens while giving them more control over its collection, processing, and use by organizations.

For mobile marketers in particular, GDPR represents an essential shift in how data should be managed, specifically around user consent and transparency issues.

 

GDPR’s Key Principles

Various principles form the core foundation for GDPR that protect individual privacy:

Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: Organizations should use personal data legally, fairly, and transparently when processing it for users. Mobile marketers must clearly explain why user data is collected in the first place.

Data minimization: Only data that is essential to meeting an objective should be gathered. For example, mobile marketers should only collect necessary personal information from users that is not relevant to a specific campaign or service they offer.

Accuracy: All data must remain up to date and accurate, and any incorrect or outdated information must be quickly corrected or deleted from storage.

Storage restrictions: Personal data must only be kept as long as necessary, so marketers should clearly establish how long they store user information and adhere to any retention policies in place.

Security: Organizations must implement appropriate security measures to safeguard personal data against breaches or unintended access.

 

Implications of GDPR on mobile marketing

GDPR will have significant ramifications on how mobile marketers collect and utilize consumer data. Marketers now should get explicit consent from users prior to processing any personal information for activities like personalized ads or sending marketing communications. They must offer clear explanations as to how this data will be utilized and provide an easy means of opting out of such uses of personal information.

Mobile applications and platforms that handle personal data must ensure compliance with GDPR rules by having systems in place that enable their users to request access, correct inaccurate records, or request deletion of their records.

 

GDPR compliance strategies

Mobile marketers must implement certain best practices in order to stay compliant:

Consent management: For optimal consent management, use clear consent forms that give users an understanding of what data they’re agreeing to share, such as including banners within mobile apps that let users manage their preferences for sharing data.

Appointing Data Protection Officers (DPO): Appointing a data protection officer (DPO) may be essential, depending on the size and volume of personal data being processed in an organization.

Marketers must implement procedures and safeguards to handle data breaches promptly, such as notifying those impacted and relevant authorities within 72 hours from the time a data breach occurs.

 

Conclusion

GDPR revolutionized data privacy regulations, setting an industry-wide standard on how organizations, including mobile marketers, must handle user information. Complying with GDPR not only satisfies legal obligations but also fosters long-term loyalty by assuring users’ data is dealt with responsibly.