UPDATED 21:33 EST / AUGUST 10 2017

BIG DATA

Google launches site to showcase readiness for Europe’s data rules

Google Inc. wants to let its customers and partners know what it’s doing about the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which is due to come into effect next year.

To that end, the web giant has created a new website explaining how its products and services now comply with the new requirements, which require any company that handles the personal data of EU citizens to apply certain security and privacy controls to ensure it’s kept safe. In addition, the GDPR is also designed to give European citizens more control over their data.

GDPR will come into effect from May 2018 and big web companies such as Google simply have to be ready in time, because failure to do so could see them slapped with fines amounting to 4 percent of their annual revenue, or €20 million, whichever is greater.

The good news is that Google has been working for some time to ensure that its web services and products all meet the new standards.

Google’s new GDPR site explains that the vast majority of its products, such as Gmail, Search and Google Cloud Platform, as well as its advertising services AdSense, AdWords and DoubleClick, are already in compliance with the regulations. The site explains in detail all of the measures Google has taken to ensure this, in addition to describing the security systems it has in place to protect user’s data.

William Malcolm, the director of privacy for Google’s Europe, Middle East and Asian regions, said in a blog post that the company is “keenly aware” of what’s needed to ensure GDPR compliance.

For example, the new site explains in great detail the security measures Google has put in place to ensure customer data is protected. These measures include physical defenses at its data centers, its data encryption techniques, its incident response capabilities and more.

The site also details Google’s commitment to industry standards for information security management and cloud security. Finally, the site also explains how businesses can control the data they share with Google based on the services they used. For example, companies that use Google’s G-Suite productivity apps or its cloud services can keep their data isolated from other products and services.

“You choose what data your business shares with Google based on the products and features you use,” the company said.

Image: Descrier/Flickr

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