Introduction
The EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") comes into force across
the European Union on 25th May 2018 and brings with it the most significant
changes to data protection law in two decades. Based on privacy by design
and taking a risk-based approach, the GDPR has been designed to meet the
requirements of the digital age.
The 21st Century brings with it broader use of technology, new definitions
of what constitutes personal data, and a vast increase in cross-border
processing. The new Regulation aims to standardize data protection laws and
processing across the EU, affording individuals stronger, more consistent
rights to access and control their personal information.
Our Commitment
BridgePay Network Solutions, LLC ("BridgePay", "We", "Our", "Us") is
committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information
that we process and to provide a compliant and consistent approach to data
protection. We have always had a robust and effective data protection
program in place which complies with existing law and abides by the data
protection principles. However, we recognize our obligations in updating and
expanding this program to meet the demands of the GDPR.
BridgePay is dedicated to safeguarding the personal information under our
control and in developing a data protection program that is effective, fit
for purpose and demonstrates an understanding of the new Regulation. Our
preparation and objectives for GDPR compliance have been summarized in this
statement and include the development and implementation of new data
protection roles, policies, procedures, controls and measures to ensure
maximum and ongoing compliance.
Our preparation includes –
Information Audit – carrying out a company-wide information audit to identify
and assess what personal information we hold, where it comes from, how and
why it is processed and if and to whom it is disclosed.
Policies & Procedures – implemented new data protection policies and
procedures to meet the requirements and standards of the GDPR and any
relevant data protection laws, including: –
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Data Protection – our main policy and procedure document for data
protection has been overhauled to meet the standards and requirements of
the GDPR. Accountability and governance measures are in place to ensure
that we understand and adequately disseminate and evidence our obligations
and responsibilities; with a dedicated focus on privacy by design and the
rights of individuals.
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Data Retention & Erasure – we have updated our retention policy and
schedule to ensure that we meet the "data minimization" and "storage
limitation" principles and that personal information is stored, archived
and destroyed compliantly and ethically. We have dedicated erasure
procedures in place to meet the new "Right to Erasure" obligation and are
aware of when this and other data subjects rights apply; along with any
exemptions, response timeframes and notification responsibilities.
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Data Breaches – our breach procedures ensure that we have safeguards and
measures in place to identify, assess, investigate and report any personal
data breach at the earliest possible time. Our procedures are robust and
have been disseminated to all employees, making them aware of the reporting
lines and steps to follow.
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International Data Transfers & Third-Party Disclosures – where
BridgePay stores or transfers personal information outside the EU, we have
robust procedures and safeguarding measures in place to secure, encrypt
and maintain the integrity of the data. Our procedures include a continual
review of the countries with sufficient adequacy decisions, as well as
provisions for binding corporate rules; standard data protection clauses
or approved codes of conduct for those countries without. We carry out
strict due diligence checks with all recipients of personal data to assess
and verify that they have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the
information, ensure enforceable data subject rights and have effective
legal remedies for data subjects where applicable.
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Subject Access Request (SAR) – we have revised our SAR procedures to
accommodate the revised 30-day timeframe for providing the requested
information and for making this provision free of charge. Our new
procedures detail how to verify the data subject, what steps to take for
processing an access request, what exemptions apply and a suite of response
templates to ensure that communications with data subjects are compliant,
consistent and adequate.
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Legal Basis for Processing – we have reviewed all processing activities to
identify the legal basis for processing and ensuring that each basis is
appropriate for the activity it relates. Where applicable, we also
maintain records of our processing activities, ensuring that our
obligations under Article 30 of the GDPR are met.
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Privacy Notice/Policy – we have revised our Privacy Notice(s) to comply
with the GDPR, ensuring that all individuals whose personal information we
process have been informed of why we need it, how it is used, what their
rights are, who the information is disclosed to and what safeguarding
measures are in place to protect their information.
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Obtaining Consent – have revised our consent mechanisms for obtaining
personal data, ensuring that individuals understand what they are
providing, why and how we use it and giving clear, defined ways to consent
to us processing their information. We have developed stringent processes
for recording consent, making sure that we can evidence an affirmative
opt-in, along with time and date records; and an easy to see and access way
to withdraw consent at any time.
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Direct Marketing – we have revised the wording and processes for direct
marketing, including clear opt-in mechanisms for marketing subscriptions;
a clear notice and method for opting out and providing unsubscribe
features on all subsequent marketing materials.
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Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) – where we process personal
information that is considered high risk, involves large scale processing
or includes special category/criminal conviction data; we have developed
stringent procedures and assessment templates for carrying out impact
assessments that comply fully with the GDPR's Article 35 requirements.
We have implemented documentation processes that record each assessment,
allow us to rate the risk posed by the processing activity and implement
mitigating measures to reduce the risk posed to the data subject(s).
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Processor Agreements – where we use any third-party to process personal
information on our behalf (i.e. Payroll, Recruitment, Hosting etc.), we
have drafted compliant Processor Agreements and due diligence procedures
for ensuring that they (as well as we), meet and understand their/our GDPR
obligations. These measures include initial and ongoing reviews of the
service provided, the necessity of the processing activity, the technical
and organizational measures in place and compliance with the GDPR.
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Special Categories Data – BridgePay does not require special categories of
data to provide services, however, if we obtain and process any special
category information, we will do so in complete compliance with the
Article 9 requirements and have high-level encryptions and protections on
all such data. Special category data is only processed where necessary and
is only processed where we have first identified the appropriate Article
9(2) basis or the Data Protection Bill Schedule 1 condition. Where we rely
on consent for processing, this is explicit and is verified by a
signature, with the right to modify or remove consent being clearly
signposted.
Data Subject Rights
In addition to the policies and procedures mentioned above that ensure
individuals can enforce their data protection rights, we provide a process
to request information BridgePay processes about them and to request
information about: –
- What personal data we hold about them
- The purposes of the processing
- The categories of personal data concerned
- The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
- How long we intend to store your personal data for
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If we did not collect the data directly from them, information about the
source
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The right to have incomplete or inaccurate data about them corrected or
completed and the process for requesting this
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The right to request erasure of personal data (where applicable) or to
restrict processing in accordance with data protection laws, as well as to
object to any direct marketing from us and to be informed about any
automated decision-making that we use
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The right to lodge a complaint or seek judicial remedy and who to contact
in such instances
Information Security & Technical and Organizational Measures
BridgePay takes the privacy and security of individuals and their personal
information very seriously and take every reasonable measure and precaution
to protect and secure the personal data that we process. We have robust
information security policies and procedures in place to protect personal
information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction
and have several layers of security measures, including but not limited to: –
- Access Controls
- Encryption
- Multifactor Authentication
- Policy
- Transport Layer Security (TLS)
GDPR Roles and Employees
BridgePay has appointed a data privacy team to develop and implement our
roadmap for complying with the new data protection Regulation. The team is
responsible for promoting awareness of the GDPR across the organization,
assessing our GDPR readiness, identifying any gap areas and implementing the
new policies, procedures and measures.
BridgePay understands that continuous employee awareness and understanding
is vital to the continued compliance of the GDPR and we have involved our
employees in our preparation plans. Additionally, we have implemented
training, which has been provided to all employees and forms part of our
induction and annual training program.
Contact Us
ATTN: Privacy Dept.
BridgePay Network Solutions, LLC
485 North Keller Rd, Suite 525
Maitland, Florida 32751