If you need to speak with someone about the General Data Protection Regulation, call David. Goliath can’t come to the phone right now.

On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will stand astride the EU and its Big Data like Goliath stood astride the Valley of Elah. 

Okay. 

That’s an exaggeration. 

But many people think the GDPR will be a deterrent to companies in the EU as they attempt to digitalize their businesses. In truth, the implications of the GDPR are nowhere near that dire. In fact, many of its requirements will help many businesses proceed more cautiously and, so, more safely and securely. And the benefits of that safety and security will extend to the constituents of those businesses. Here’s how. 

I Can See Clearly Now

The GDPR’s regulation of transparency provides several benefits. First, it prohibits companies from using Big Data to profile individuals. That may seem like a detriment to marketing types who love to track our searches and purchases — and to re-market to us based on both. But if the regulation reduces profiling, it increases the extent to which we can interact with our customers and prospects on a more personal level. There’s win #1. 

Second, that same transparency serves companies by making it easier to trace chains of decision-making and to determine who decided what and when. That kind of continuity can be a valuable asset, especially in organizations that remain stubbornly siloed, despite (or, perhaps, because of) the ubiquitous availability of digital data. 

Third, the GDPR mandates that data can only be aggregated and collated for specific purposes, that it must be, adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary. In a way, it’s almost an invocation of Occam’s Razor; that is, by reducing the volumes of data companies can collect, it optimizes simplicity by restricting companies to the data they should collect. While that may require companies to meaningfully consider the data that’s actually necessary, the corollary benefit is that it minimizes the likelihood that companies will be overwhelmed by putting the Big in Big Data. 

Don’t Worry About Goliath

While the GDPR may cut Big Data down to size — at least in its aggregation and application — it has no intentions of eliminating it. Rest easy. Goliath will live to confront David another day.