GDPR: What it is meant for, why it is important and how it can affect your eCommerce store?

When it comes to the security and protection of individual customer data of e-commerce stores, there should be optimum priority and care. This requires a comprehensive approach to data security with clear-cut regulations and protocols.

The “General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)“ which is going to be effective from “the 25th of May” this year is a bold step in this direction.

Now, having an assurance of getting support from the top administrative authorities including the European Union is likely to be adopted soon by other countries around the globe.

What is GDPR?

GDPR refers to the General Data Protection Regulations which can be referred to as the latest rendition of the privacy and security laws concerning data breaches.

This new set of regulations is expected to reduce the instances of data breaches both in frequency and scale.

The new regulatory protocol actively defines boundaries of who, when, and how companies are permitted legally to deal with the customer’s personal data and what are the limits of such interaction.

Apart from referring to the clear-cut limit of such interaction with customer data it also makes provision for considerable financial penalties in case of non-compliance to these regulations is detected.

As stated by the GDPR, the penalties for non-compliant businesses and apps can go up to 4% of the annual revenue of a business or €20 million, whichever amount is bigger.

Can it really affect the eCommerce store? If yes, how can it be?

Obviously, this set of regulations is coming with far-reaching implications for any e-commerce store.

Among many other things, this new set of regulations will give a makeshift to the compliance criterion for any app to be included in your eCommerce store.

This new set of rules and compliance laws will not only boost the trustworthiness and credibility of e-commerce stores and attract new customers to trusted e-commerce brands, but it will also reduce the entire operational hazards associated with maintaining compliance with third-party apps for stores.

You can make people feel safe while browsing products, sharing their personal information, and buying products.

That is really a standout advantage we can expect from these regulations.

One e-commerce store by simply being GDPR compliant can boost its credibility to a great extent.

How will GDPR ensure data protection?

The new regulations pertaining to the GDPR will regulate the data collection, processing, storage, and disclosure of any individual’s personal data within the European Union.

Some of the key objectives of this new regulatory framework include the following.

• Enhancing the transparency of data interaction and boosting the accountability of organizations who are responsible for interacting with the individual’s personal data.
• Regulating the situations, time duration, security protocols, and ground rules for lawful interaction with the data.
• Regulating the transfer of personal user data in countries out of the European Union and other organizations that have their own standard protocols to ensure data security and privacy.
• Establishing and legally upholding the rights and ownership of an individual over his personal data.
• These regulations though have been initiated in the EU can be rendered in companies outside of the European Union as well.

Data compliance after GDPR and its implications for eCommerce stores

Among the businesses that are most exposed to the digital data of the customer, e-commerce comes at the top.

Naturally, the wide-ranging implications of the GDPR will be greater in e-commerce stores than in most other business niches.

E-commerce stores deals and interact with customers’ personal data in several layers and in doing so they take help from a variety of third-party apps and tools.

Now, the new compliance regulations for data security will enforce a new approach towards these third-party apps that actively interact with customer data.

This new set of laws on the compliance of apps for interaction with customers’ personal data will change the dynamics of the business and add a positive to the trustworthiness.

While handling the customer’s personal data such as email address, shipping address, phone number, and purchase history every stakeholder and participant app will be subjected to follow stringent compliance norms.

If an e-commerce app is hosted by a platform and the data is further processed by other apps, then along with the merchant both the data processor platform and other apps will be held accountable for data security and safety.

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AboutChetan Sheladiya

Driven by emerging tech stacks, Mr. Chetan has over a decade of experience in the IT and digital landscape. He specializes in online business marketing, web and mobile app development, and other niches. He loves sharing his ideas and opinions with like-minded people.