It is expected that the EU will release the finalised General Data Protection Regulation later in 2015 or in early 2016, which will see it take effect in all 28 EU member states after a two-year transition period.
The legislation is intended to harmonise rules surrounding data protection across the EU, hopefully making it simpler for companies both inside and outside the EU to comply. In addition, the legislation will almost certainly increase penalties for breaching data protection law, with the possibilities of companies being fined up to five per cent of their global turnover.
The ICO is responsible for enforcing data protection legislation in the UK, and the organisation has offered advice to British businesses on how they can avoid falling foul of the new laws ahead of the enforcement regime that will come in during 2018.
The ICO also suggests that privacy by design as a concept that every organisation should follow, with privacy being at the forefront of business decisions.
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