GDPR Compliance Checklist

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What is GDPR Compliance + Checklist Your Company Should Follow

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Author:

Michael Wicker

published

August 9, 2024

Having a comprehensive GDPR compliance ameriplan email leads checklist is more important than ever for businesses. It’s the secret to ensuring your company handles user data responsibly and legally.

Still not sure?

By July 2024, more than two thousand fines totaling more than €4.5 billion will have been issued in the EU due to GDPR violations.

Below is a specific illustration:

Fines for GDPR Non-Compliance

Image via GDPR Enforcement Tracker

Compliance with GDPR will help you protect your company from large fines and gain customer trust.

We'll walk you through the key steps and best practices to ensure your business is fully GDPR compliant.

What is GDPR and why is it important?
What is GDPR?

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It is a set of rules adopted by the European Union (EU) in 2018 to protect the privacy and personal data of consumers within the EU.

It gives consumers more control over how companies collect, store and use their personal data. It also sets strict rules for organizations that collect and process consumer data.

But don't be scared. It's easy. Keeping your business GDPR compliant (and what to do to help you in the process).

The Importance of GDPR for Consumers
In 2023, there were over 8 million data breaches worldwide, as you can see in the image below.

Data leaks around the world

Image via Statista

With data breaches, identity theft and misuse of personal information on the rise, consumers are becoming increasingly cautious about sharing sensitive personal information online.

That’s why the GDPR requires organizations to implement robust security measures to protect consumers from data breaches. The GDPR gives consumers greater confidence that organizations are handling their personal data responsibly and securely.

It also gives consumers the right to know what data organizations collect, why they collect that data, and how they plan to use it. In this way, the GDPR increases transparency and builds trust between consumers and organizations.

Furthermore, the GDPR gives consumers the ability to access, correct, delete, transfer or revoke consent to their data. It gives them greater autonomy over their personal information.

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The Importance of GDPR for Business
If GDPR is designed to protect customer data, what does it mean for your organization and why should you comply?

Importantly, about 56% of consumers said they would be unlikely to trust an organization that is not completely transparent about how it uses their personal data. Here's a closer look:

Customers have undermined trust in companies

Image via Statista

Once you lose your customers’ trust, they may never do business with you again. Here’s how GDPR compliance protects your organization from these situations and more:

GDPR compliance demonstrates your commitment to privacy and data protection. It helps you build your brand reputation and improve customer retention .
It encourages you to implement more effective data management practices across your organization, resulting in improved data quality, accuracy, and reliability.
Prioritizing GDPR compliance can differentiate your business from competitors. It will help you attract privacy-conscious consumers and partners.
Failure to comply with GDPR can result in significant fines and penalties that can impact your bottom line. Compliance helps you protect your organization from losses.
Who does the GDPR apply to?
The GDPR applies to any organisation that offers goods or services to consumers in the Member States of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).

This applies even to companies that are not based in the EU but offer goods and services or process personal data of residents of this region. If you have an online store in the US and you sell your products to customers in France, you must comply with the GDPR.

The GDPR focuses on the following categories:

Data controllers : Organizations that have the authority to decide how personal data is processed.
Data processors : Subjects who process data on behalf of the data controller.
Data subjects : Consumers whose personal data is collected and processed.
The Importance of GDPR Compliance for Businesses Inside and Outside the EU
A GDPR compliance checklist can only be useful if you understand why your business needs to comply in the first place.

So, let's discuss why GDPR compliance is so important for businesses both in the EU and outside of it:

Avoid fines and legal consequences : Compliance with data protection regulations helps avoid fines and lawsuits that could damage your business's reputation and operations.
Expand your market reach : If you have a business outside the EU, GDPR compliance can help you enter the European market and expand your customer base.
Improved data management : GDPR compliance helps you develop structured data management structures for your business. This will help you better understand and manage your customers’ data.
Reduced data storage costs : Storing large amounts of personal data can be expensive. However, focusing only on the necessary user data can significantly reduce storage costs .
Building Customer Trust : When you’re transparent about how you use your customers’ data, they’re more likely to trust your business. This helps you build stronger relationships with customers and encourage brand loyalty .
What is protected by the Data Protection Act?
According to GDPR guidelines, companies should use the web broadly when deciding what to do with personally identifiable information. Data that you may not consider sensitive may still be protected by GDPR. This is where tools like access control lists come into play, allowing organizations to effectively manage and protect data.

The most common data types include the following:

Names
Addresses
Social Security Numbers
Credit card numbers
Bank account information
IP address
Sexual orientation
Race or Ethnicity
Political position
Under GDPR law, companies must take "reasonable" precautions to protect this information from external intrusion.

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What happens if my company is not GDPR compliant?
The EU can impose fines on companies that do not comply. Since the legislation is currently quite broad, it is important to be conservative in the use and storage of data.

The most serious violations can result in extreme penalties. In fact, Meta Platforms, Inc. in Ireland received a hefty €1.2 billion fine in 2023 for GDPR non-compliance.

The image below shows several other organizations that also received significant fines:

GDPR fines for organizations

Image via Statista

How can Hello Bar make GDPR compliance easier for you?
One of the most important aspects of GDPR compliance concerns how you collect data. If you want to build your email list with lead magnets , for example, you need to make sure you're only reaching out to consumers who actually want to hear from you.

We've created a helpful guide on how to enable GDPR through your Hello Bar account .

Hello Bar allows you to include any information you need before you collect email addresses, names, and other data. For example, if you plan to use the information provided for both marketing and data sharing, you need separate consent for each consumer.

You can do this with Hello Bar. Make it clear, for example, that you intend to use the information collected only for email marketing purposes and will not be shared with third parties.

It's as easy as clicking a button. When setting up Hello Bar, toggle the "GDPR Compliant" switch to "ON".

Hello Bar GDPR

Image via Hello Bar

Hello Bar can also help you incentivize marketing without penalties. For example, if your lead generation strategy involves collecting email addresses in exchange for an ebook. However, if the content of your email includes coupons, discount codes, gifts, and other benefits, you are still in compliance.

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GDPR Compliance Checklist

Keeping customer data secure is paramount to avoiding negative consequences such as customer loss and potential legal issues. GDPR is vast and can be overwhelming even for experienced companies.

Luckily, the GDPR compliance checklist below will help you navigate the complexities and avoid costly mistakes.

1. Engage your team
Start by talking to your employees about GDPR compliance. You can even pass along this article so they can read through the topic and note any additional questions they may have.

This is especially important in companies where employees work autonomously. You may know all about GDPR compliance, but if your marketing department doesn’t, they may make mistakes.

2. Make sure you use GDPR compliant software
If you're like most businesses, you use software to maintain and clean up your email list . If you use a company that isn't GDPR compliant, you may want to consider switching companies.

Hello Bars , for example, has already implemented helpful tools so you don't have to work as hard to comply. In fact, you can show that you're compliant on your Hello Bars.

Simply log into your Hello Bar account, go to the Settings tab and click Privacy.

GDPR 1 compliant software

Then simply add the URLs to your terms and conditions and privacy policy pages.

GDPR 2 compliant software

This way, when potential customers fill out your forms, they will see a GDPR consent request.

3. Evaluate your subscriptions
Opt-in lead capture forms are at the heart of the GDPR. The EU wants consumers to give explicit consent before they receive communications, such as emails or SMS, from companies.

Hello Bar makes it easy. As mentioned above, you can enable GDPR compliance directly from your account. Since you can’t force consumers to sign up for two things (like a lead magnet and your newsletter) at the same time, you can use Hello Bar’s thank you page to allow potential customers to sign up for your newsletter.

This is a great time to audit all of your landing pages and opt-in pages. Make sure you’re using the perfect wording and images to attract new leads and stay GDPR compliant.

4. Clarify your terms and conditions
We've all encountered terms and conditions that seem to be written in a foreign language. If your customers don't understand your policies, they can't consent to sharing their data with you.

If you use Hello Bar, you must upload your own terms and conditions and privacy policy to demonstrate compliance. Now is a good time to review these documents and ensure they are ready for the GDPR launch on May 25.

Make sure your terms and conditions are written in plain, understandable language. There may be some legal jargon, but use parenthetical asides to explain these phrases or terms further.