Email Archiving for Compliance with GDPR and Other Privacy Laws
Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union came into effect, data privacy has become a significant area of focus for the business world. We explain how a professional email archiving solution can help you achieve these goals.
What You Need to Know About GDPR
In addition to national regulations regarding the storage of data related to business, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) of the European Union has introduced specific requirements that regulate how and under what conditions critical data (in this case, personal data) can be processed. The GDPR came into effect on May 25, 2018, in the EU, aiming to harmonize data privacy laws across member states. Previously, individual national laws within the EU had caused significant inconsistencies in data protection regulations, and the GDPR aimed to standardize and simplify existing processes. These regulations apply not only to all companies within the Union but also to numerous non-EU companies that collect or process data of EU citizens.
What Does GDPR Regulate?
The GDPR focuses on ensuring the protection of personal data by harmonizing data privacy laws within Europe. Therefore, companies must ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with GDPR requirements across various sectors, and this applies equally to all emails containing personal data.
Is Compliance with GDPR Mandatory?
Yes, it is. Not only all EU companies but also non-EU companies that do business with EU-based companies are required to comply with the GDPR. It should not be forgotten that the GDPR applies not only to the B2B sector but also to the B2C sector.
Are There Fines for Violating GDPR?
Yes, there are. Violations can result in fines up to 20 million Euros or up to four percent of a company's global annual turnover from the previous fiscal year, whichever is higher.
Email Archiving Can Help a Company Comply with GDPR
The process of GDPR compliance is an organizational challenge involving numerous processes and procedures. Email archiving tools can help a company meet several fundamental requirements of the EU regulation. When used appropriately, our software, MailStore Server, can help you comply with several GDPR Articles, for example:
Right of Access (Article 15 GDPR)
Our solution's powerful search function enables you to quickly find, extract, and make available any email or file attachment related to a specific customer or employee. Therefore, companies are in a position to provide information to third parties when required.
Right to Erasure (Article 17 GDPR)
Individuals have the right to request the deletion of their personal data ("right to be forgotten"). In this case, the following requirements must be met:
- Emails must be deleted irreversibly
- Legal retention periods must be respected
- Database compliance must be guaranteed
Our software allows you to automate the deletion process of emails from the archive, including all personal data stored for a specific data subject, via configurable retention policies. In addition, the reasons for deletion requests and the legal tests related to the right to deletion can be recorded as part of a properly logged manual deletion procedure.
Right to Data Portability (Article 20 GDPR)
Data subjects have the right to obtain their personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit this data to another controller. MailStore Server supports a data export function that enables compliance with the right to data portability by supporting all common email formats (EML, MSG, PST).
Right to Object (Article 21 GDPR)
When a company processes personal data, it must demonstrate that it has obtained the data subject's consent. The data subject can also withdraw this consent. Since MailStore Server is an email archiving tool, any consent expressed via email and the withdrawal of that consent will be captured within an upstream system such as an e-commerce platform, email marketing system, etc. All resulting transactions (e.g., participation in email marketing systems or lead management systems) are reproduced within the email archive.
Ensuring GDPR Compliance with MailStore Server
MailStore Server has been audited by an independent IT auditor and is officially GDPR certified. This certification proves that the software meets all personal data processing criteria specified in the GDPR when used appropriately.
Interested customers and partners can request the official certificate of the audit results for MailStore Server by contacting sales@mailstore.com.
Please Keep in Mind
Compliance with GDPR data privacy regulations should be seen as an organizational challenge that involves not only technical measures but also regulations across all business areas. Professional GDPR-certified email archiving is only a small component of the measures required to comply with the GDPR.
MailStore Server can support you by providing the following functions and features:
- Archival Integrity via Journaling: Emails are archived before being delivered to a mailbox.
- Faithful Archival: Emails in the archive match the original in every aspect.
- Tamper-Proof Storage: All archived data is protected against tampering through an encryption process.
- Tamper-Proof Export: Archived emails can be exported from the archive in standard file formats, protected against tampering.
- Retention Policies: Retention policies can be applied to specify how long certain emails should be archived.
- Legal Hold: Certain emails can be prevented from being deleted, independent of any retention policy.
- Audit Trail: An integrated control function ensures that all changes are logged.
- Auditor Access: External auditors can be granted access to the archive.
Be part of over 80,000 success stories
MailStore Server, with over 80,000 customers, is one of the leading email archiving solutions worldwide. MailStore is used by numerous small and medium-sized businesses, public institutions, and educational institutions across all industry sectors.