The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. Yes, this affects you; it affects all business owners! Let me answer some of the questions:

• When does this go into effect? GDPR goes into effect on May 25, 2019. This means you need to take action now.
• Why does this affect me? This applies to you if you are processing/collecting/monitoring personal data. Still, asking how? I’m sure you have Google Analytics on your website (if not, you should; it’s free and only takes minutes to set up). Google has to follow GDPR. Maybe you think, so what Google has to but still, what does that mean for me? You need to take steps to save your data before Google finishes its prep for GDPR.
• What is personal data? Personal data is data that can identify a person. Google Analytics gathers information about the user on your site.
• Why wasn’t this in effect before? or Why Now? Well, it was to a degree. So the GDPR is replacing the Data Protection Directive 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. The GDPR is strengthening the protection of personal data. This personal data is any info that relates to a person. As the web gets bigger and bigger, it is necessary to have these types of things in place.
• What does this mean for my website? This means you should check with some of your third parties, like Google, to make sure that you don’t need to do something to save your data or agree to the latest policies.

Feel free to contact me to help ensure your site is GDPR ready!

Website Specialist