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What Your Business Needs To Know About Data Regulation And Privacy Laws

Mar 26, 2021

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Data regulation has been at the forefront of company priorities back in 2017 when the GDPR was passed by the European Union. As a comprehensive regulation package, it changed a lot of how businesses administer their website, customer data, and a lot more.

But the GDPR is not the only data regulation or privacy law you should be mindful of. The US also has specific sets of legislation in regards to data and privacy, so let’s explore this complicated legal landscape.

Does The GDPR apply to US companies?


If you have an international website, or clients from outside the US, then yes, your US-based company should abide by the GDPR. If you only get one visitor from the EU that doesn’t get treated in accordance with the GDPR, it can mean a lot of money lost in fines.

Other than that, strictly following the GDPR can help you inspire trust in your potential customers.

How Do You Comply With The GDPR?


To make sure you’re 100% compliant with the GDPR, we recommend you talk with a legal expert that helps you set-up online processes and data collection procedures. We can’t offer you legal advice, but we can give you a hint of what you’ll need to focus on:

  • Make sure you can answer crucial customer demands, like the right to be forgotten, or the right to access any personal data you store on an individual person.

  • Audit and encrypt all the personal data you store.

  • Notify users in case of a breach

  • Designate a data protection officer in your company

  • Make sure your service providers and collaborators are also GDPR-compliant


Again, the minute details will differ on a case-by-case basis, and complying with the GDPR can be done in a lot of creative ways. That’s why we recommend you speak to a legal expert to make sure you’re GDPR compliant.

What If I Don’t Have Clients Or Website Visitors From The EU?


If your audience is entirely based in the US, we still recommend being GDPR compliant. It can help inspire trust in your potential customers, and it’s a good perk to have if you plan on expanding internationally in the future.

However, if you don’t want to go through all the trouble, there are key US pieces of legislation you need to abide by, like Health insurance regulation or the Financial Modernization Act, that protects personal data stored by financial institutions.

On top of that, there’s the EU-US Privacy Shield, an agreement meant to oversee the transfer of data from and to the European Union. It follows along similar lines to the GDPR, but it has two key differences:

  • It’s not that focused on individual citizens’ rights.

  • It is an agreement, not a regulation.


In Conclusion


A lot of people posit that data regulation and privacy laws are in dire need of an upgrade in the US. However, for individual businesses, the GDPR can serve as a good reference point on how you should treat the data of your customers.

Lastly, we’ll mention this again: the article you read now is not to be taken as legal advice, but rather as an informed overview of data regulation. For any practical advice on how to adapt your business processes to existing regulation, seek help from a legal expert.