What does GDPR mean for web design? How to ensure user privacy in compliance with GDPR?

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Designing for User Privacy in Web Design

Getting Started

If you are involved in web design or online marketing, it is important to understand the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

GDPR is a regulation that is designed to protect the privacy of individuals in the European Union (EU).

It applies to all businesses that collect, store or process personal data of EU citizens, regardless of where the business is located.

This guide is for web designers, online marketers and anyone who is involved in collecting, storing or processing personal data of EU citizens.

How To

1. Understand the principles of GDPR: GDPR is based on seven principles that govern the collection, storage and processing of personal data. These principles are: lawfulness, fairness and transparency; purpose limitation; data minimisation; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality; and accountability.
2. Obtain consent: Under GDPR, you must obtain consent from individuals before collecting, storing or processing their personal data. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.
3. Provide clear privacy notices: You must provide clear and concise privacy notices that explain how you collect, store and process personal data. The privacy notice must be easy to understand and accessible.
4. Implement appropriate security measures: You must implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. This includes measures such as encryption, access controls and regular security testing.
5. Respond to data subject requests: Under GDPR, individuals have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, data portability and object to the processing of their personal data. You must have processes in place to respond to these requests.
6. Train employees: All employees who handle personal data must be trained on GDPR and your organisation’s data protection policies and procedures.
7. Conduct data protection impact assessments (DPIAs): DPIAs are a process for identifying and mitigating privacy risks associated with the processing of personal data. You must conduct DPIAs for high-risk processing activities.

Best Practices

• Obtain consent from individuals before collecting, storing or processing their personal data.
• Provide clear and concise privacy notices that explain how you collect, store and process personal data.
• Implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
• Respond promptly to data subject requests and provide individuals with the ability to exercise their data protection rights.

Examples

Let’s say you run an e-commerce website that sells clothing.

You collect personal data from customers, such as their name, address, email address and payment information.

Under GDPR, you must obtain consent from customers before collecting their personal data.

You should provide a clear and concise privacy notice that explains how you will use their personal data, who you will share it with and how long you will keep it for.

If a customer requests access to their personal data, you must provide it to them within one month.

If a customer requests that you erase their personal data, you must do so unless there is a legitimate reason for keeping it.

You must also implement appropriate security measures to protect the personal data you collect, such as using encryption to protect payment information and limiting access to personal data to only those employees who need it to perform their job.