EU GDPR with the US Commercial Service
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
BDP International
On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, more than 50 international business executives gathered at BDP International for a panel discussion about Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR). The BABCPHL partnered with the French and German American Chambers of Commerce and the US Commercial Service to deliver this timely seminar.
Michael Ford, COO of BDP International welcomed guests and introduced the speakers. Jordan Fisher, Managing Partner at X-pan Law Group moderated the session. Alexandre Clovirola, Cybersecurity Data Analysis Expert, Security Analyst, I-TRACING, was the first to speak. Alexandre’s discussion focused on data protection and cybersecurity elements. He gave a brief presentation about EU GDPR goals, including the importance of securing data from hackers.
Michelle Sylvestor, Policy Advisor, Data Flows and Privacy Team, Office of Digital Services Industries, Industry and Analysis, International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce, joined the conference by telephone to talk about the Privacy Shield. Her presentation included how businesses can use governmental resources to stay informed about the changing regulations. She mentioned that using the Privacy Shield will help businesses comply with the GDPR and will include an annual review.
Jordan Fisher and Rebecca Rakoski, also a Partner of X-pan Law Group, discussed the new EU GDPR in great detail, including processing, personal data, and data structure. Their presentation quickly turned into a dynamic discussion with attendees. They answered complicated questions regarding how it will affect US citizens along with a thorough explanation of the impact for both small and large businesses. They discussed how the new regulation could affect even the smallest things such as the use of a business card. Lastly, they touched upon the impact of Brexit and how the ambiguity of the UK separation from the EU makes the regulation difficult to interpret.
Aaron Gardner, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, KLDiscovery was the final speaker. He talked about data breach and proper response procedure. Aaron noted how the EU GDPR is extremely different from US data protection policy. For example, in the US, a company has 30 days to report a data breach. In the UK, they have 72 hours to report the problem.
All speakers were engaging, and provided important information about the new EU GDPR. It is clear this is a top priority for Europe. The five guest speakers clearly informed attendees about how the EU GDPR will affect the everyday business operations.
