This article was published in 2018. Laws, case law and regulatory guidance may have changed since then. Contact us for up to date advice.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has applied since 25 May 2018. This means that the same privacy legislation applies throughout the European Union (EU). The Dutch Personal Data Protection Act (Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens, Wbp) no longer applies. The regulation entered into force on 24 May 2016 and has applied since 25 May 2018. But what is the GDPR? And what does this regulation entail?
What is the GDPR? In Dutch, the GDPR is known as the AVG (Algemene verordening gegevensbescherming); its official English name is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This regulation strengthens citizens’ fundamental rights in the digital age and promotes trade by simplifying the rules for companies in the digital single market. Because there is now only a single law, an end has come to fragmentation and costly administrative red tape.
What has the GDPR changed?
The introduction of the GDPR brings a number of changes for companies and organisations.
These are:
- the strengthening and extension of privacy rights for data subjects;
- more responsibilities for organisations;
- the same strong powers for all European privacy supervisory authorities. One example is the power to impose fines of up to 20 million euros.
In the coming period, we will explain what you can do to comply with the privacy rules in a practical and pragmatic way, so that you can get off to the best possible start in setting up your privacy management. This will save you a great deal of uncertainty, allowing you to carry on with your daily work without worry.
Need help with privacy?
We can imagine that the privacy rules are unclear. No problem, we are here for you! Do you have a question or are you stuck? Please feel free to contact us, so that we can help you in good time. We are happy to help you in a practical and pragmatic way, in plain language. That way, you can be sure what the privacy rules mean for you.