GDPR Countdown – The View from Six Months Out

Editor’s Note:

Yesterday’s Christmas holiday marked the official six-month point until the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, 2018. We’ve published a ton of content on the implications of the new law, and have also released products specifically to help our customers align their privacy policies and practices to comply with GDPR. Over the next week or so here on the blog we’re going to publish a series of quick / short takes regarding why identity is a critical component for GDPR compliance, and what the top concerns are regarding the implementation of GDPR in specific industries. First up: Tim Barber, VP, Telecoms & Media.

What GDPR Means for the Telecom Industry

We are starting to see the distinction between those organizations that get it and those that still don’t. The ones who don’t get it are still treating GDPR as another set of burdensome regulations that they need to comply with to keep their business running pretty much as is – it’s about lawyers, tick boxes and audit trails.

The ones who get it can see beyond the regulations, they understand the importance of demonstrating integrity in their approach to customer privacy, because trust is an enduring business principle. Trust is something you earn – based on what you do with your customers, not what you do to your customers.

For telecoms companies, getting it right will open up a world of competitive differentiation and new business opportunities, leveraging consumer trust to become an IDP (identity provider) into other industries.