Hello, my name is Charlie from Vox Securitas. It's exactly four months since the General Data Protection Regulations came into EU law, however, it is still estimated that many Organisations are not compliant or unaware of their level of compliance. 

In the build-up to the 25th May 2018, many organisations were under the impression that the GDPR was focused on consent to hold and process data - we all received the barrage of 're-permissioning' emails and thankfully those have pretty much ground to a halt. However,  there is so much more to consider in order to be compliant. For example, do you know if your Charity is required to have a Data Protection Officer? What are your email retention policies and is your staff adhering to the policy? Is your privacy policy updated and separated from your terms and conditions? Have you got your SARS process in place?

As well as the above, the media has highlighted the risk of having weaknesses in your website by reporting on cyber attacks experienced by British Airways and The Bible Society, resulting in lost data and therefore a breach under GDPR. 

 Earlier this year Vox Securitas  were proud to have worked with  The Hawn Foundation UK to get them GDPR compliant. The Goldie Hawn Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation created in response to the global epidemic of childhood aggression, anxiety, depression and suicide. Based firmly on neuroscience, the 15 lessons school programme gives children the knowledge and tools they need to manage stress, regulate emotions and face the challenges of the 21st century with resilience.

The Organisation (UK side) doesn't handle a huge amount of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) however they do handle sensitive data for both volunteers and staff, school contacts and donors. Any amount of data that is held by an Organisation is required by the General Data Protection Regulations to be processed and stored in a compliant manner.

Before working with Vox Securitas The Hawn Foundation UK were unaware of their level of compliance to the GDPR. Prior to meeting with our team, the charity had only received some training with the Charity Office regarding safeguarding/ policies. Once the Vox Securitas team had finished training and working with The Hawn Foundation UK, we asked them if they felt confident that the charity was now secure against possible breaches. Emily, Programme Leader, responded 

 We asked The Hawn Foundation how they found working with the Vox Securitas team,

It seems that there are GDPR experts popping up all over the place, so how do you know who you can trust? Well a proven track record helps and if you're unsure if your Charity or Organisation is GDPR compliant and Cyber Secure then do please get in touch! If you leave a comment below I’ll get back to you.

Have a great day, Charlie.