How does the GDPR affect storage?

The GDPR could be a 'privacy earthquake' - but what will its impact be on storage of personal data?

"[The] GDPR could be described as anything between a logical evolution and a privacy earthquake", according to a new white paper from IBM, which examines how the new regulation is likely to affect storage systems and data management software.

Two parts of the GDPR directly affect storage:

The first requirement calls for media-level encryption of data - that is, encryption of removable media and other external storage, such as flash and legacy media; file spaces; and geographically dispersed data.

Importantly, the same regulations apply to failed storage media: "failed" does not mean "unreadable", even if the component was part of larger system such as a RAID array.

IBM recommends encrypting or anonymising data at the earliest possible stage as a course of best practice.

Tracking user data

Copy data management is key when it comes to the GDPR's clause dealing with the 'right to erasure', enforcing the irrecoverable deletion of certain personal data sets. Because of this, storage-level copies must be tracked and stray copies - appearing, for example, during development testing or migration - should be avoided. Additionally, long-living data - such as that cyclically copied to newer media or remote locations - should be logically tracked.

GDPR compliance

There is currently no such thing as a GDPR compliance certificate. While some companies have products that accredit the quality of mandatory features, such as tamper-resistance, these are not defined by the GDPR. Readiness is instead achieved by adopting policies and procedures around the processing of personal data.

An FAQ on the GDPR can be found here.

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