Five steps to being GDPR-ready

25 May 2018 is less than six months away. Karen Janssen, CIO at CTM (Corporate Travel Management), has revealed the five steps you need to take now to ensure you are GDPR ready. 

1               Employee engagement

Make sure the people in your organisation who need to know about GDPR understand that the law is changing and the impact it will have on the company. Assign a Data Protection Officer – someone to take responsibility for data protection compliance.

2               Sort your existing data

Consider an information audit to document what personal data you hold, how you hold it, where it came from and who you share it with.

3               Privacy and procedures

Review your current privacy notices. Check your procedures to ensure they cover individuals’ rights. Look at how you seek, obtain and record consent and whether you need to make any changes.

4               Legal basis for processing personal data

Identify your legal basis for carrying it out data processing and document it.

5               Data breaches

Make sure you have the right procedures in place to detect, report and investigate a personal data breach.

This post was written by Karen Janssen, Chief Information Officer at Corporate Travel Management (CTM), a top ten global TMC exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February. To register for a free visitor pass and meet up with CTM (stand B620) to discuss GDPR and all of your other travel management needs.  

GDPR: what it means and why we need to be on our best behaviour

Even if you’re not yet au fait with the ins and outs of what GDPR is and how it will affect your business, I’m assuming you’ve heard of it – from the abundance of news and online articles to the increased activity in your IT and customer management teams.

GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulation and it’s a legal requirement from 25 May 2018, replacing the existing Data Protection Directive at European Union level and the UK Data Protection Act 1998. It applies to anyone handling data belonging to EU residents, which means it almost definitely will apply to your organisation.

Why is it being introduced? Partly because of globalisation and the increasing number of businesses operating multinationally, and partly because of the growing digital economy we all operate in. The introduction of GDPR means data protection laws will now assume a level of international consistency and they also class digital footprints - IP addresses, cookies, MAC addresses – as personal data for the first time.

Like all things, the digital revolution and the increased level of access to personal data has both pros and cons. For organisations, it means we can understand our customers better and provide communications that are better targeted and more relevant and valuable to our audiences. As a result, customers benefit from personalised content, tailored offerings, less spam and increased, more convenient, transaction speeds.

But the downside of so much personal data being stored online is that it can be at risk of misuse.

Following a number of high profile data breaches and global cyber attacks this year alone, it is clear that new levels of data protection and security are a requirement of today’s digitally connected world and why we in the business travel industry, as much as any other industry, need to be at the top of our game.

As an organisation that’s responsible for managing data on behalf of thousands of travellers, it’s crucial that we at CTM can reassure our travellers and our clients that this information is being collected, stored and used both responsibly and with each person’s consent. And that’s what GDPR will do: introduce an accountability-based framework for handling the way personal information is acquired, used and shared.

For businesses who fail to comply with GDPR, a breach of data use could result in fines of up to €20 million (about £18 million) or 4 per cent of annual turnover, whichever is greater.

25 May 2018 isn’t so far away - if you haven’t already started planning for GDPR, I would start now.

This post was written by Karen Janssen, Chief Information Officer at Corporate Travel Management (CTM), a top ten global TMC exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February. To register for a free visitor pass and meet up with CTM (stand B620) to discuss GDPR and all of your other travel management needs.  

CALLING ALL TRAVEL START-UPS - GET IN FRONT OF EUROPE'S TOP BUYERS FOR FREE.

David Chapple, left, and Gili Lichtman 

As registrations open for Business Travel Show, the show’s organisers are calling on business travel start-ups to apply for a free stand in its Launchpad. Launchpad will showcase up to 15 of the most innovative and exciting start-ups to the show’s 7,500+ attendees. 

Launchpad premiered in 2016 with eight exhibitors receiving a free stand, extensive marketing support, exposure to the show’s attendees and an entry into the inaugural Business Travel Disrupt Award, the winner of which receives a full-sized stand worth £8,000 at the following year’s event. Last year, the Business Travel Show increased its investment in innovation by doubling the size of its Launchpad. This means that up to 15 business travel start-ups can now exhibit for free each year. 

Last year’s Business Travel Disrupt Award was won by Fairfly, an innovative solution for automatically tracking company flights for savings opportunities, including after ticket purchase. Fairfly has enabled corporates to save money and time when booking business travel.

Following its win, Fairfly is already confirmed to return to the Business Travel Show in 2018 to exhibit, alongside more than 270 leading travel suppliers.

"Being able to showcase our solution to the audience at the Business Travel Show was an amazing experience for us which gave us exposure to a high-calibre audience," said Gili Lichtman, Co-Founder and VP Sales at Fairfly. "Winning the Disrupt Award on top of this was fantastic as it increased our exposure even further. I would encourage all business travel start-ups to apply for this one of a kind opportunity." 

David Chapple, Event Director, Business Travel Show, added: “Since its launch in 2016, Launchpad has become one of the most exciting elements of the Business Travel Show. It’s an amazing opportunity for start-ups to gain exposure among the travel industry’s top names. Buyers attending the show value the opportunity to be the first to hear about game-changing new technologies.”

To apply for a free stand in the Business Travel Show Launchpad, businesses must be three years old or younger. Please download and complete the form at  http://www.businesstravelshow.com/launchpad-2018 and return it to Sundeep Manku at sundeep.manku@centaurmedia.com by 1 December 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 12 January 2018.

Online visitor registration is now open for the Business Travel Show at http://www.businesstravelshow.com/register