Workshop GDPR Implementation

In this era of digitalization, data privacy is crucial; consumers are becoming more aware of its worth and demanding more care with the handling of their personal information, while governments are implementing increasingly stricter regulations to protect them.

The most rigorous law at the time is the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in force since May 2018. It regulates the handling of personal data of individuals and establishes considerable penalties in case of infringement that can reach up to 20 million Euro or 4% of the worldwide annual revenue of a company – whichever is greater. Moreover, companies outside the European Economic Area that deal with personal information of citizens inside this geographical region can also be fined in case of transgression, attaining firms in more than 190 countries.

In this context, it becomes crucial for business to comply with high data security standards; not only to avoid exorbitant fines, but also to reinforce their reputation and strengthen consumers’ trust.

Despite becoming top priority, compliance might seem overwhelming; after all, regulations are comprised by many articles and legal jargon and most companies do not know when or how to start. Aware of this situation, Natuvion GmbH, an SAP Gold Partner and expert in data security management, offers its expertise to help firms comply with the strictest legal standards, while allowing them to continue with their operations in a safe way, helping them maintain and strengthen their relationship with their customers.

Among the most recent efforts is the Workshop GDPR Implementation – Best Practices for Large IT-Environments that took place on January 31st, 2019 in Bratislava. A joint effort where the partners Natuvion GmbH, SAP, SKW Schwarz Law Firm and Tempest teamed up and gathered a group of experts in different fields to offer the audience an overview of various topics related to this important law.

The event started with a synopsis of the legal foundations of the GDPR by Benjamin Spies, partner at SKW Schwarz Law Firm and specialist in data protection and cross-border matters, among others. Following his participation, Wolfgang Epting, Solution Advisor Chief Expert at SAP presented the available options for companies to comply with the GDPR based on SAP Solutions and Natuvion GmbH Expertise. Chances and challenges of the current circumstances were discussed, SAP capabilities for data compliance were introduced, the core features of SAP Information Lifecycle management ILM were reviewed and examples of data privacy cases within the SAP Business Suite S/4 HANA were presented. Additionally, the SAP SOPHIA tool for intelligent and complete identification of personal data was showed and a comprehensive summary of the available SAP solutions was given. Afterwards, Patric Dahse, CEO of Natuvion GmbH showed how risk can be reduced through the implementation of data depersonalization, a process in which the company supports other firms. He explained the difference between data pseudonymization and anonymization, reviewed the challenges of data depersonalization, showed real-life examples of SAP ERP/CRM Depersonalization from different perspectives and presented Natuvion’s certified solution Natuvion TDA for data depersonalization. Finally, he and Ksenia Tretjakova, SAP Technical Consultant discussed some GDPR experiences and challenges collected from the practical experience of implementing these solutions for many different customers at a cross-industry level.

These workshops aim to assist organizations in understanding and comparing the relevant provisions of the GDPR, to ensure compliance and help to provide a first set of information before our easy to follow structured guidelines for the preparation process for implementation in a SAP system landscape. If you were unable to join the workshop or would like a free 45-minute session with one of our IT or Legal experts, please contact us.