UK GDPR

How we use your personal data

Do you always know how your data is being used and protected by the companies you’re giving it to? Many of us don’t. As technology develops and data sharing becomes more common, data protection is becoming more and more important. That’s why legislation known as GDPR and now UK GDPR (UK General Data Protection Regulation) sits alongside an amended version of the DPA 2018.  Find out below what exactly this means for you as a customer.

What data does it protect?

When people talk about technology and digital developments, there’s always a focus on data. But what data do they mean? UK GDPR aims to protect any personal data a company holds about you – including your name, address, email address, images, social networking accounts, IP address or medical history.

It will also cover more sensitive data such as your sexual orientation, your genetics, your political views or any trade union memberships.

How does GDPR affect me?

Consumers don’t have to do anything.

You’ll still see that when you buy products online or sign up to newsletters, there continue to be obvious checkboxes relating to how the company can use your data – for example to send you emails, or share data with a third party.

However, GDPR also gives you a number of ‘rights’ when it comes to your data, including:

The right to be informed
– you have a right to know how your data will be used by a company.

The right to access your personal data
– you can ask any company to share with you the data they have about you!

The right to rectification
– this just means you can update your data if it’s inaccurate or if something is missing.

The right to erasure
– this means that you have the right to request that a company deletes any personal data they have about you. There are some exceptions, for example, some information can be held by employers and ex-employers for legal reasons.

The right to restrict processing
– if you think there’s something wrong with the data being held about you, or you aren’t sure a company is complying to rules, you can restrict any further use of your data until the problem is resolved.

The right to data portability
– this means that if you ask, companies will have to share your data with you in a way that can be read digitally – such as a pdf. This makes it easier to share information with other companies, such as your bank details when applying for a loan.

The right to object
– you can object to the ways your data is being used. This should make it easier to avoid unwanted marketing communications and spam from third parties.

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
– this protects you in cases where decision are being made about you based entirely on automated processes rather than a human input.

Whether or not you exercise your new rights is up to you – the main thing to remember is that they’re there if you need them.