What is the UK GDPR?
The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) is the UK’s data privacy law that governs the processing of personal data from individuals inside the UK. The UK GDPR was drafted as a result of the UK leaving the EU, which resulted in the EU-GDPR not applying domestically to the UK any longer. The UK GDPR came into effect on 1st January 2021.
What are the differences between the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR?
There are very few substantial differences between the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR. Essentially, the UK has lifted the entire structure of the EU GDPR and put it in place into UK law.
The Data Protection Act 2018 controls how your personal information is used by organisations or businesses and is the UK’s implementation of the EU GDPR.
Everyone responsible for using personal data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is:
used fairly, lawfully and transparently
used for specified, explicit purposes
used in a way that is adequate, relevant and limited to only what is necessary
accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date
kept for no longer than is necessary
handled in a way that ensures appropriate security, including protection against unlawful or un-authorised processing, access, loss, destruction or damage
There is stronger legal protection for more sensitive information, such as:
race
ethnic background
political opinions
religious beliefs
trade union membership
genetics
biometrics (where used for identification)
health
sex life or orientation
There are separate safeguards for personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences.
Your rights under UK GDPR
Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to find out what information organisations store about you. These include the right to:
be informed about how your data is being used
access personal data
have incorrect data updated
have data erased
stop or restrict the processing of your data
data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)
object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances
You also have rights when an organisation is using your personal data for:
automated decision-making processes (without human involvement)
profiling, for example to predict your behaviour or interests
What changes has Workever made to stay compliant?
Updates to our privacy policy: We have made updates to our privacy policy and our cookie policy to reflect the changes that took effect as part of the transition to UK GDPR.
Contact consent: If you are an existing subscriber of Workever, we assume that you are happy to hear about information related to your subscription, if not please get in touch with us at [email protected].
Personal data guide: if you are a Workever customer, we have created a guide to let you know how to handle your customer or staff members personal data if it is requested or if they ask for the data to be deleted. You can see the guide here.