Freshfield service will prepare firms for GDPR

Freshfield has launched a dedicated service to guide clients through tough new rules on data protection and e-privacy.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May 2018 and heralds in a new era of compliance for how companies obtain, use, store and destroy personal data.

Freshfield has teamed up with certified GDPR practitioner Andrew Stellakis to offer training to help clients understand GDPR, review existing practices and become compliant.

Organisations that breach the new EU legislation face significantly larger fines than under the current data protection laws, as well as being publicly named by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Michael Gregory, director at Freshfield, said: “GDPR is going to impact many facets of business life. We’ve spent the last eight months gaining a detailed knowledge of its implications. We now want to help our clients cut through the confusion and understand fully what GDPR means for their business.

“Through our partnership with Andrew, our clients can ensure they’re getting information about GDPR from a trusted and reliable source.”

Alongside GDPR, the new E-Privacy Directive, which deals with e-marketing and ‘over the top’ marketing using such things as mobile phone apps comes into force. This has major implications for the way companies use email campaigns, in-app advertising and apps storing and using personal data.

Andrew Stellakis has 25 years’ experience in the IT and software sectors and is the managing director of Lancaster-based IT company Q2Q Ltd.

As a certified GDPR practitioner, he is qualified to advise and act as Data Protection Officer (DPO) in all matters relating to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

He said: “GDPR is all about ‘good practice’ and showing you value the security of the data you hold on file. Businesses should therefore embrace it as something that will make their business stronger and more robust, rather than fearing or ignoring it.”

Business can be fined up to 20 million Euros or up to 4 per cent of group worldwide turnover, whichever is greater.

As part of the Freshfield GDPR service, Andrew will deliver workshops to businesses on the implications of GDPR and the E-Privacy Directive. He will also conduct an audit to identify the steps that need to be taken to comply with the legislation.