Ecovis Malta has announced the launch of advisory and technical services designed to help businesses understand better their obligations vis-à-vis the recently introduced General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and to achieve effective compliance with this legislation.
In May 2016, the European Council adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in a bid to reform the current data protection laws among EU Member States. The main objective of GDPR is to harmonise data protection law across European Union, and help citizens regain control of their personal data.
The GDPR will come into force on May 25. Ecovis Malta managing director Anthony Vella explained that the GDPR consists of 99 articles and involves plenty of complexities, while non-compliance with the GDPR can expose an organisation to fines of up to €20,000,000 or four per cent of the annual turnover, whichever is the highest.
“If organisations process data within the EU, or even outside of the EU in certain circumstances, the GDPR will impact them and every department in the company. The services launched recently by Ecovis Malta are aimed at helping organisations cut through the noise and ensure that they are prepared,” said Mr Vella.
Corinne Pace, from the Ecovis Malta legal department, stated that the new regulations place considerable importance on the rights of data subjects, and the practical implications of this can be critical to an organisation.
“With all the new rights introduced, organisations and businesses will have to update their privacy policies so that all the terms and regulations are properly met, both with respect to the organisations’ clients and their employees. They must be aware of all the implications that may result from violating the rules. Moreover, companies must make sure that the profiling activities carried out by them are lawful, and don’t result in the violation of any individual right.
“The best way in which they can do this is by using techniques like pseudonymisation and data minimisation. These techniques will help in maintaining the privacy of the data subjects,” she said.
Information on Ecovis Malta’s range of services can be found at https://www.ecovis.com/mt/ . For enquiries about GDPR related services one may contact gdpr@ecovis.com.mt.