It’s GDPR’s birthday! Has it actually done anything?

Who can remember May 2018? With the blur of events since, last year seems like a distant faded memory. However, there is one thing from that long-forgotten time that is worth remembering – GDPR. This month marks the first anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation, which brought sweeping changes to how companies handle data. But how has GDPR actually impacted small businesses?

Well, the simple answer for many businesses is “not much”. Your average family-run shop or restaurant may have had to make some changes and updates to their till system and payments database, but they don’t have any real need to keep personal or business data – for them GDPR has often just been another law.

That isn’t to say that there haven’t been small businesses affected by GDPR. For many businesses that do direct client work, especially B2B businesses, GDPR has meant a major overhaul. New security measures have had to be implemented, and many businesses have had to do major purges of their marketing lists. Ignoring regulations has hit many small businesses with fines numbering in the tens of thousands. Whilst many small businesses have been “business as usual”, it’s not as if GDPR has been completely ignored.

AIMS are no exception. With accountants holding so much sensitive information about their clients, it’s vital to be sure that their data is secure. We’ve also made sure our marketing efforts are going to those who really want to hear from us – you’ll never get an email from AIMS if you don’t want to!

In the long term, GDPR is here to stay – the new standard across Europe is increased data security. As a business that prides ourselves on forward-thinking, we can only say one thing – “Good”.

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