What does GDPR mean for global companies?

Gartner predicts that by the end of 2018, more than 50 percent of companies affected by GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) will not be in full compliance with its requirements. Having been contacted recently by a number of global clients about GDPR, I’ve realized that there’s still a misconception that GDPR only applies to companies based in the UK or Europe.  

In reality, its reach is far wider than this. GDPR is one of the most far-reaching privacy laws protecting citizens in history, and applies to all businesses that collect or process European Union (EU) citizens’ data, regardless of geographic location.



So, whether your company or data center is located within the EU or not, this regulation is now applicable for any EU citizen within your data set.The regulation covers all data stored in all system types, including manual indexed files.

As discussed in previous blogs, you must be able to demonstrate your compliance through auditors by 25 May 2018, and there will be strong consequences enforced if not.

Following requests from various clients in the US, we recently ran a webinar to discuss some of these issues, in which we covered the following topics:


If you’re at all concerned about whether GDPR applies to your company, you might be interested in watching the replay of the webinar. You can also contact us to find out how we can help you become compliant.