What is the GDPR?

The GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation - is a new set of laws that deal data protection in Europe.  It is meant to create legal standards that will apply to all the EU countries. The GDPR contains changes for the public as well as businesses and organizations that handle personal information, like Democrats Abroad.

What do I need to know about GDPR?

In the past, Data Privacy laws in Europe have always applied to Businesses and EU Citizens.  These new laws affect ALL EU residents, not just citizens.  This means that these laws apply to our European members and will affect how we deal with membership information in Europe.

ACK!  What do I need to do? 

In your official capacity as a DA volunteer/officer/member, you do not have to do anything – yet.

The IT Team, with the approval and assistance of the Executive Committee, will be implementing some changes to Nationbuilder access.  We WILL need your help to get this done.  Please read and respond in a timely manner to any email that you get from the IT Team.  No changes will be made overnight, but they will be implemented before May 25, 2018.

When is the GDPR coming into effect?

The GDPR was approved and adopted by the EU Parliament in April 2016. It will be in force May 25, 2018.

Who does the GDPR affect?

Organizations located both within and outside of the EU which offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of, EU data subjects. It also applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location.  It also has direct effects on the rights of our European-resident members.

I still have no idea what GDPR really is.  What is it? Why do we care?

We collect personal information at DA.  GDPR changes the existing definition of personal data and lays out new standards regarding the use of this data. In addition to this, individuals now have more rights regarding who holds their data and how it can be used.

Personal data will be defined as anything that can identify an individual. This means a name, an email, an address, a phone number, credit card details, or a pseudonym, among other things.

One of the most significant changes for individuals is the right to be forgotten.  When someone asks to be deleted from the database, their request must be granted within 30 days, and all information we hold in our system about them must be deleted.  We do this anyway, but it means we must become particularly alert as we process member requests and new member signups.

We must now be even more alert and conscious of how we treat our member information.  As we finalize our compliance plans, we will inform you of the next steps.  We ask that all leaders take it upon themselves to keep up with any changes in our procedures that may come down the line, and NOT to take any unilateral actions with regard to our membership information – if you have a question, please ask the IT Team at membership@democratsabroard.org.