I’ve always seen myself as a little guy. Ok, I’m 5’10”, but in business, it’s always been me and a few cronies here and there. Mainly though, I go home at night (or in the morning) thinking to myself “Here I am again, me and only me”. This is fantastic, because the responsibilities have all been mine. This is also quite frightening…because all of the responsibilities are still mine!

With news of GDPR regulations coming into play this spring, I decided to take extra precautions of my own, as SMEs appear to be the main group that will be affected. This is due to the lack of security measures currently in place, either because they haven’t needed to be before, or the company or trader doesn’t have the resources at hand.

Does this mean that there will be an excessive strain on SMEs? Not necessarily. It’s just going to take some getting used to, but once the practice is in place, I’m confident that it can be incorporated with ease and little fuss.

In the world of recruitment, life is getting weird. As social media connections become more and more important, we find that info is being scattered all over the place. As much as I like to receive documents straight to email, sometimes you just can’t help getting sensitive information over Whatsapp, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

So with that said, whatever your business, have a good think about what sensitive data you store for people. You may not think that you do, but you’ll be surprised. Whether this is for employees, customers, clients, I guarantee that somewhere you’ll have something, somewhere.

Here are a few tips to help get you prepped in good time:

• As soon as you receive contact details and information about an individual, store it in a database. At first, you may need to backtrack and do this from scratch. The thought might be daunting but JUST DO IT. You only need to do it once and then, you can add to it bit by bit when you get new data to process.
• Encrypt your databases and other storage devices. My assumption is that you don’t have the funding for flashy systems, so keep it simple. Use Excel. You can encrypt these with a password by going File – Info – Permissions – Protect Workbook (2010 – versions differ) DON’T LOSE THE PASSWORD THOUGH, IT CANNOT BE RECOVERED. Look into storing databases on external hard drives that don’t leave your office and avoid keeping copies on the computer’s C drive where possible.
• Lock your smartphone/tablet with a fingerprint AND passcode. If you receive any documents that you download to your phone, send them on to your business email ready to file when back in office, and delete the file from your phone immediately.

See how you get on, but trust me, the time you take now is invaluable.

David Rangel – Event Recruitment and Management

I have access to over 30,000 event staff all over the UK, all with a variety of personalities and special skills. Staff are vetted and hired in accordance to your needs. Recently, I have looked after the Ocado account for Mississippi Ltd. for over two years as well as ad-hoc clients Fabled and TM Lewin. I also manage events and handle logistics, having worked with brands such as Pepsi Max and Specsavers.

Contact – david.john.rangel@gmail.com / 07540 368 866