Hi, I am Sarune – Country Manager (Lithuania) for GDPR Register. I know that GDPR compliance can be a headache sometimes, which is why I want to introduce everyone to our solution. With that, I was invited to take part in ChangeMakers’ON Boost Camp, that took place on the 14-19th August 2018 in Kaunas, Lithuania, to share our GDPR expertise and guide entrepreneurs through the compliance process!
ChangeMakers’ON Boost Camp, organized by European Social Entrepreneurship and Innovative Studies Institute, is a social innovation and startup entrepreneurship program. Over 60 global experts, including Andreas W. Dr. Huber – Founder & CEO @ CEO EureCons Förderagentur GmbH (DE), Algirdas Stonys – Founder & CEO @ Telesoftas (LT), Erika Zakarauskienė Finance Director @ KG Group (LT), Lauri Koponen – strategic management, leadership and innovation management consultant (FIN), gathered to help startups grow and learn by connecting peers, sharing methods and exchanging solutions globally so as to fulfill their potential and open the door to new innovative and sustainable markets.
With GDPR now in place, EU businesses see tougher fines and stricter regulations, across all the industries. Over the past few months, the task to become GDPR-compliant has been a significant focus, particularly for data/tech and marketing companies. Companies must be reminded that GDPR compliance is not a “one, two and done” action.
Sharing Our Expertise
At the event, I introduced participants to the GDPR and shared our expert checklist of GDPR-compliance tasks. This garnered a lot of attention as every company should be aware of the measures they ought to take to improve day-to-day operations while ensuring they are GDPR-compliant.
Many participants admitted that GDPR is often seen as burden, and we can certainly understand why. It does not seem easy to be GDPR-compliant if you don’t understand the laws well.
What I advised them, and what we will share with everyone else, is that GDPR is something that can be used to your company’s advantage. You can add value to it by proving to potential and existing customers that your organization is compliant with new laws that protect the rights of your customers and in turn, bring in more business because you care about their privacy.
To help participants better understand, I brought up some cases of high-profile companies such as Facebook, Spotify, Timeshop and British Airways, what revealed that it didn’t matter what resources these company had, if they don’t implement proper measures, there will be consequences. With updated individuals’ rights, claims and cases of breaches, GDPR can be even scarier!
The Importance of Protecting Your Company
Event participants also brought up an important point: as a company, not only do you need to be educated on GDPR, you also need to be protected – something that is often not mentioned or discussed.
Case in point: according to the Lithuanian Data Protection Authority, customers are said to often report companies without any proper reasoning, resulting in unwanted stress and disturbances. To help with this, I demonstrated how GDPR’s main requirements are covered in GDPR Register’s features, making companies feel safe in the eyes of both their customers and the Data Protection Authority.
It is indeed easier to comply with GDPR!
It was interesting for me to find out that some participants have heard about GDPR but they weren’t sure if it applied to them while others were hearing about it for the first time. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that most participants agreed that it’s easier to comply with GDPR as opposed to spending time to figure out how to avoid it. They also agreed that it would be a lot less tricky if they had professional experts to help them!
Need some help understanding GDPR? Or perhaps you want to check if you are GDPR-compliant? We’re here to help you! Send us a message via email or Facebook and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
