What the GDPR Means for Your Personal Data and Social Media Accounts
In less than one year, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force and significantly impact how companies are allowed to handle your personal information. Beginning on 25 May 2018, companies will be required to explicitly ask for your consent to collect and use your personal information. What’s more, if your information has been hacked, companies are required to inform you of the incident.
Additionally, the GDPR will afford you the ‘right to be forgotten’, which means that you can have your personal data erased from a database if there is no legitimate ground for the company to retain it. Legitimate grounds, as defined by the GDPR, include freedom of expression and scientific research.
What’s more, the right to be forgotten may eventually extend to your social media accounts. If that were to happen, you would be able to ask a social media organisation—like Facebook—to delete personal data or information that you posted in the past.
Overall, the GDPR should ensure that your information is safe and secure.