Implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 – General Guidance to Members 16 March 2018 No.17-016 Download PDF (352KB) Introduction Regulation (EU) 2016/679 containing the General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR” or “Regulations") will come into force on 25 May 2018 when it will have direct effect in the EU/EEA [1] . The Regulation, which is some 88 pages long, may be found here:   http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=en     This general guidance intends only to provide a brief introduction to the GDPR, as relevant to the Association and its Members. The impact of the Regulation will most often be felt in claims relating to personal injury and illness or other cases involving data originating from natural persons, or individuals. Data originating from a legal entity that does not contain personal information, or information otherwise not related to natural persons is unaffected. The broad intention of the Regulation is to replace Directive 95/46/EC and strengthen and harmonise EU/EEA procedures concerning the collection, storage, processing, access, use, transfer and erasure of personal data. By establishing responsibilities for "controllers" and "processors" of personal data, the Regulation aims to provide natural persons with the same level of legally enforceable rights throughout the EU/EEA, and a supervisory and enforcement framework to ensure compliance. The aim of the GDPR is to protect natural persons in relation to the processing of data. The Regulation applies to those within the EU/EEA which may hold such data, but also to those outside the EU/EEA which may offer goods or services to natural persons within that area, or receive personal data from organisations within the EU/EEA.  Because the Association operates within the EU/EEA and process personal data received from organizations within the EU/EEA, the GDPR will apply to the Association. Similarly, the Regulat