GDPR - What is all the fuss about?

May 25th is behind us and the Earth is still spinning. This probably is the best time to sit back and calmly assess where you are in business with respect to GDPR compliance. The last two years have had the global business in a frenzy. As with most deadlines, the last two months is when most of us seem to have woken up to GDPR.   

While the businesses have had GDPR nightmares, common people have been basking in the attention and importance given to data protection and an individual's rights to personal data. In most of the interactions had with organizations and individuals, GDPR-understanding felt like that  fable of 6 blind men describing an elephant. 

To break some myths around GDPR and help understand GDPR in lay people's terms, we'll be sharing a few posts over the next few weeks. Do follow this series, share your thoughts, ask questions if any.

Getting started

If you are a business that's been grappling with GDPR law and want to take stock of what you have complied with, how much you should do, and how to ensure continue being compliant, it's important to do these three basic things:

1. Get familiar with the GDPR lingo and keep repeating them everyday so it becomes common language and ceases to be that nightmare.

2. It's a good idea to try and understand what GDPR is not. This lets you breathe easy and you know that life is still normal like the pre-bigdata/metadata days!

3. And then stop being in denial about GDPR being for real and start making that checklist.  Keep updating the checklist. And work towards ticking off the items on that list.

Breaking down the GDPR lingo

You've had a good start to understanding and internalizing GDPR if you are already liberally interspersing your conversations with the following terms:

• Consent
  
• Legitimate interest
  
• Personal data
  
• Privacy policy
  
• EU datacenter
  
• DPIA
  
• Data protection
  
• Data collection
  
• Data processing
  
• Data governance
  

We'll look into each of these terms and more in detail in the next few posts.

What GDPR is not

1. Whatever GDPR maybe, it certainly is not a mean monster out to get you to pay heavy penalties. Huge penalty is just one of the consequences of not respecting users' right to their data privacy :)

2. GDPR did not materialize from thin air. It replaced decades old EU data protection laws that are now redundant with the advent of Internet as we see, use, and rely on today.

3. 'Consent' is one of the most misunderstood properties of GDPR. It is just one of the several ways in which you can establish GDPR compliance.

4. GDPR is not here to make it difficult for the rest of the world to engage in business with Europe.

5. Achieving compliance is not merely checking those boxes and claiming compliance by May 25th, 2018. It has just come into effect and is a work in progress. Which means, organizations will continue to operate on this framework and strive to contain the existing activities within the prescribed framework too.

What GDPR really is

EU has had data protection laws for over two decades.  In fact, it is supposed to have started way back in 1948 with the ECHR !  With Internet and technology changing the way business happens, the EU laws that prevailed until 2 years ago were redundant and required a massive rehaul:

1. GDPR is a set of rules that replaced the 1995 Data Protection directive.

2. The rules apply to all the companies across the globe if they engage in business with customers in Europe.

3. These laws are made a bit more stringent to ensure that companies do all it takes to protect the rights of individuals over their personal data.

4. These rules apply to organizations that collect data of individuals.

5. It empowers users with new rights over their data.

The European commission followed this up with a new ePrivacy proposal in January 2017. We'll discuss this in detail in one of the upcoming posts that are aimed at bringing us all up to speed on understanding and ensuring GDPR compliance.

Setting aside all the speculations, varied interpretations, and understanding, it's a good idea to embrace the law and here is why:

1. It's a move in the positive direction for organizations as it helps shed bad practices in handling customer data.

2. It is always a good feeling (and safe) to fall back on legalized framework.  The room for errors or mishandling are greatly reduced.

3. GDPR and ePrivacy, fixes accountability and defines rules to bring about this accountability instead of leaving it open to interpretations and ambiguity.

4. And in every sense, companies will be putting the customers first.  This is a sure shot way to succeed in an era driven by Internet and AI. 

Stay tuned for more updates on all things GDPR!

• Topic Participants

• Vidya Vasudevan

  

• Recent Topics

• Zoho and Hostaway webhok integration.

  I want to receive data coming from hostaway webhook and receive it in zoho crm to create or update record in a module based on conditions. The hostaway webhook sends data every time a reservation is created or modified or cancelled. The hostaway sends

• A recap of Zoho Sprints 2024

• Unable to create custom fields for shipment order

  I'm unable to create custom fields for shipment orders, even though the custom fields are set up correctly. A request to the following endpoint: https://www.zohoapis.com/inventory/v1/settings/preferences/customfields?organization_id=${ZOHO_ORGANIZATION_ID}&entity=shipment_order

• Records per page in New UI

  It seems the new UI lack of "Records per page" function, it is very handy if you are looking for a data that you don't know the exact search term, but you know it may "between" few entries. without a "page" function, we kind of have to keep page down and page, the autoload is not that fast, and you are dealing with thousands of entries. Could we please have the "records per page" function back to New UI (also it shows total counts of the record) Looking forward to hear from you.

• zet pack not working

  We are using the zet pack command to package our Zoho extension. However, after running the command, the extension gets packed, but the resulting package is empty. We've attached a screenshot for reference. Could you please assist us with resolving this

• CSV File Added to Form - Parse and Map to Fields

  Hi,  I apologize, I can't seem to find a clear explanation or help article on how to parse a CSV file. On validate, I process this deluge script. fileContent = Collection(input.File_upload.content); result = fileContent.values(); info result; What I want to do is create a record (in another form), and map certain fields to fields in the form.  I can get values, which is the whole file but no keys. If I use result = fileContent.keys(); I get "0" As you can see from CSV, my first line is my map and

• Encountered an error while creating a bill in Zoho Inventory: {"code":6,"message":"Invalid data provided"}

  I attempted to create a bill using the Zoho Inventory API, but I received an error: {"code":6,"message":"Invalid data provided"}. However, when I made the same request again, it was successful. Does anyone have insights on why this happened?

• Free user licenses across all Portal user types

  Greetings everyone, We're here with some exciting and extensive changes to the availability of free user licenses in CRM Portals. This update provides users with access to all Portal user types for free to help them diversify their user licenses and explore

• Why do I need to send the Customer ID in the Create Purchase Order Request?

  I'm trying to create a purchase order using this endpoint https://www.zoho.com/inventory/api/v1/purchaseorders/#create-a-purchase-order Unfortunately, I'm getting this error { "code": 4, "message": "Invalid value passed for Customer ID" } The doc doesn't

• How to Retrieve Serial Numbers of Items in Zoho Inventory via API?

  Hello, I am currently working with the Zoho Inventory API and need to retrieve the serial numbers associated with specific items in our inventory. After reviewing the documentation, I couldn’t find an endpoint dedicated to fetching serial numbers for

• merging email accounts

  previously I was using 5 mail pop mailboxes within VO , 2 of them are becoming obsolete so I was thinking about deleting the obsolete ones and merge the remainders into my main account mailbox within VO , is this possible ? thnx in advance.

• ZohoPeople API - Retrieve leave type IDs

  Hi All, I have created a leave type in Zoho People UI. Now I need to fetch the  Leave Type ID of it. As per the documentation[1] I used the  curl request [2]. But I ended up with the error response from the API.  {"response":{"message":"Error occurred","errors":{"message":"Server Error Occured","code":7031},"status":1,"uri":"/api/leave/getLeaveTypes"}} The new API[3] does not tell anything on how to retrieve the Leave Type ID.  Have you done any changes to the API recently. If so please let me know

• Inadequate Customer Support

  Hello & Greetings! I have been a pro Zoho user since the last 2 years and I would admit that the apps that are being offered are good, however the support we receive has a lot more to achieve. This being a design issue rather than a staff issue. Being

• Incorrect Closing Stock Amount value

  Act as Zoho Inventory Expert. We are a construction company, OVAL Projects Engineering Limited. We started using Zoho Inventory for Stock Management.I have multiple warehouses. I have encountered a problem while generating custom warehouse wise inventory

• The Next Chapter for CRM for Everyone: Moving from Early Access to Phased Rollout for Customers

  #CRM25Q1 Hello Everyone, Until now, CRM for Everyone has been available in early access mode exclusively for users who opted to try the new version. We are now transitioning to a phased release, starting with the basic edition. We are thrilled to announce

• Zoho vault uses only password to unlock not a TouchID

  TouchID works when normally openning app but when called from keyboard while browsing or trying to log to another app it shows only password option to unlock. This behaviour is only on iPad Mini witch latest 18.2OS

• Unable to add Guest Members

  We are having issues adding Guest Members to our Cliq account. We have sent out a number of request but it seems that only some people are able to access the platform. Others have received a message stating that they need to be granted access from an

• Webhook when estimate is refused is not firing

  Hello, I use a workflow through make that sends estimate with zoho books (I paid books and sign). -Those estimates when accepted are firing the webhook that I create in zoho sign (photo 1) -However when refused they are not firing the webhook that I created

• Invoice status on write-off is "Paid" - how do I change this to "Written off"

  HI guys, I want to write off a couple of outstanding invoices, but when I do this, the status of the invoices shows as "Paid". Clearly this is not the case and I need to be able to see that they are written off in the customer's history. Is there a way

• Create a custom button to modify custom fields in zoho Inventory

  I am needing a script for two buttons, 1. Button will add todays date to a custom field named cf_sent_to_sov 2. Button will mark a checkbox or unmark a checkbox field named cf_parts_ordered I have been trying to figure out deluge but have not got anywhere

• How to add a record for a different report

  I have one form and it has two reports I need to programmatically add records to both reports For example one report is draft and other is processed After the user performs some action on the draft report I want to create a new report in Processed and

• Webhook 'when estimate is refused' is not firing

  Hello, I use a workflow through make that sends estimate with zoho books (I paid books and sign). -Those estimates when accepted are firing the webhook that I create in zoho sign (photo 1) -However when refused they are not firing the webhook that I created

• Amazon Integration

  Hi, I am seller on Amazon , & I would like to sign up for Zoho books. However my question is can we automate/integrate invoicing, charges and returns in amazon with Zoho using API? Do you have a developer for this? I did take a look at zapier however it just has a create Invoice function nothing else.

• Link project tasks to tasks in CRM and/or other modules.

  Hello, I have created and configured a project in Zoho Projects with a set of tasks. I would now like to link these tasks (I imagine according to the ID of each one) to actions in the CRM: meetings, tasks, analytics). The aim is to link project tasks

• Count the NUMBER of Contacts for an Account automatically

  Hello. Is there any way Zoho can count the number of CONTACTS for a particular ACCOUNT and have a field in the ACCOUNT module update itself automatically? Currently we use Zoho to administer our language school and the Contacts represent students and Accounts represent Grupos (Classes). It would be very useful for us to have a feature like this enabled, and I can see other similar applications requiring something like this. The solution would be even better if the Contacts met a specified criteria,

• How to use Twilio to send appointment notification and reminder SMS in Zoho Bookings

  Hit no-shows out of the ballpark by combining Zoho Bookings and SMS providers. SMS notifications help you remind customers of their appointments and reduce no-shows by reaching out where they are. In this guide, we'll configure an SMS provider called

• geographic search filter in map view

  Hi, I have a recruiting and timesheet system built in Creator. The client wants to enhance the search for candidates based on their location and filter by job skills - currently they look on the Map View which uses the geo location or post code of the

• Announcement: Upcoming changes to the permission grant flow for OAuth apps

  This announcement is intended for app developers who use the Zoho API console. We're going to implement an important update to the way users grant permission for the OAuth apps created through the API console. What’s changing? Currently, users can grant

• Add Google Workspace Module to Zoho Flow

  Dear Zoho Flow Team, I hope this message finds you well. We’d like to request the addition of a dedicated Google Workspace module in Zoho Flow. Currently, there are no triggers or actions for Google Workspace, which limits our ability to integrate and

• How do i remove the Powered by Zoho logo from my careers page

  Can I remove this? ​

• Totals on Pivot Table

  Is there a way to change the way the subtotal calculates? In this example I have a formula to give me the average monthly attendance ....but I want the grand total of the month to be the sum of all the average attendances...any ideas? Thank you!@

• Team Inbox is not working AGAIN

  I like Team Inbox in general. It makes using a collaborative inbox easy - when it works. The problem is that it doesn't work at times - and it seems to not work, a lot. It's not catastrophic failure, it's little things. Unable to send messages Unable

• HOW TO USE ZOHO

  IDK

• Zoho account sign in with passkey

  Hello, I am trying to sign in using passkey, but the option doesn't show up in the web and is disabled in Oneauth on mobile, saying the admin has restricted the use. On the Admin page in Security MFA I can find no option for passkey. Help would be greatly

• Pivot table with Text values - "Matrix Report"

  User Story - As a user, I would like the ability to display textual data in a two-way table, matrix format (text datatypes, not numerical datatypes displayed as a dimension) One major feature missing from the Pivot tables in Zoho Analytics is the ability

• Canvas View in Zoho Recruit

  Is it possible or would it be possible to have the new 'Canvas View' in Zoho Recruit?

• Can Wisestamp email signature be use with Zoho mail?

  Does a Wisestamp email signature work with Zoho mail?

• WiseStamp

  WiseStamp is an excellent social media signature tool. It integrated seamlessly into Gmail and Thunderbird, plus a few more. Are there any plans to get this incredible app integrated into Zoho. check it out here: http://www.wisestamp.com/ thanks Tim

• Power BI connector (Zoho Creator) to Zoho Projects

  How can i connect power bi to Zoho Projects? domain is zoho.com How can i find workspace name, application link name and Report link name?

• Update your Google connection with Zoho TeamInbox

  Dear all, Wishing you a Happy New Year! Google has recently updated its security policy to enhance user protection, requiring all third-party apps and services to use OAuth authentication and password-less login methods. This update impacts users who

• Next Page