Introduction
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) came into force across the European Union on 25th May 2018 and brought 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.
Our commitment
Exclaimer (‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’) are 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, as is demonstrated by our ISO 27001 certification. However, we recognize our obligations in updating and expanding this program to meet the demands of the GDPR.
Exclaimer are dedicated to safeguarding the personal information under our remit and in developing a data protection regime that is effective, fit for purpose and demonstrates an understanding of, and appreciation for the Regulation.
Is Exclaimer GDPR compliant?
Yes. Exclaimer has undertaken a review of its systems, processes and practices to ensure they are consistent with the terms laid down as part of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Exclaimer has also analyzed its wider business operations to ensure they meet its obligations under the new regulations and has made any changes where necessary.
The infrastructure that we use to operate our services is based in a number of different territories. The specific territory chosen for you is based on the country in which you reside at the point of creating your subscription. See https://www.exclaimer.com/legal/exclaimer-cloud-endpoints/ to view which datacenter will apply to you.
For our email signature solutions, once our services receive data from Microsoft 365 (Office 365) or Google Workspace (G Suite), there is no onward transfer of your data by Exclaimer. This typically means that, for example, for EU customers if you are located within an EEA country when you subscribe, your personal data is kept within the EEA and the only time it may leave the EEA is if you are seeking technical support at a time when support is provided by a non-EEA based Exclaimer company in which case we have safeguards in place to protect your personal data (see below).
In more detail
Exclaimer engaged outside legal assistance to ensure that we are fully compliant with the new regulations.
In addition, Exclaimer can confirm that in order to meet the requirements of the GDPR, we have reviewed the following processes:
Data Protection – Our Information Security Management Systems have been reviewed to ensure they meet the standards and requirements of the GDPR. We are ISO27001 certified. 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.
Policies – we have updated our privacy notices and data handling policies to reflect Exclaimer’s new obligations and practices. We have trained our team to ensure the increased privacy requirements are understood and maintained throughout our organization.
Data Retention & Erasure – we have updated our retention policy and schedule to ensure that we meet the ‘data minimisation’ 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 subject’s rights apply; along with any exemptions, response timeframes and notification responsibilities.
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 communicated to all employees, making them aware of the reporting lines and steps to follow. If you believe a data breach to have occurred, please send an email to infosec@exclaimer.com and we will reply as per our breach policy.
International Data Transfers & Third-Party Disclosures. When you contract with Exclaimer, the datacenter processing your personal data will be allocated based on your address at the time of signing up to our services as mentioned above. Once you choose that datacenter, we ensure your data is processed within that datacenter. The only other systems where we may process personal data are certain sub-processors’ systems that we use to assist us in providing our services to you. The sub-processors systems we use are listed in our agreement with you. They provide systems such as CRM software to manage our customer relationship with you or credit card processing systems. For our Feedback feature, we have a couple of sub-processors outside the UK and EU for whom we ensure that Standard Contractual Clauses are in place to protect personal data transfers. We also have robust procedures and safeguarding measures in place to secure and maintain the integrity of the data in line with our ISO27001 certification. 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. Since the EU recognized the UK as having adequate safeguards in place, transfers between the EU and the UK have been allowed.
Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) – we have revised our DSAR procedures to accommodate the 30-day timeframe for providing the requested information and for making this provision free of charge. Our 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. If you wish to make a DSAR to Exclaimer, please in the first instance send an email to infosec@exclaimer.com. We will take steps to confirm your identity before any further action is taken.
Sub-Processors / 3rd Parties - We have enhanced our due diligence process when choosing to work with service providers to confirm their compliance with applicable GDPR requirements.
Contracts / Data Processing Agreements – We have updated our contracts and processing agreement. 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.
Continual Assessment – We continue to assess the GDPR’s enhanced privacy requirements and supervisory authority guidance to ensure ongoing compliance. In addition, to give customers further assurance, all data processed by Exclaimer is securely managed according to the standards of our ISO 27001:2013 Certification.
Has Exclaimer appointed a Data Protection Officer?
Yes, we have appointed Karl Bagci, Exclaimer’s Head of Information Security as our Data Protection Officer who can be contacted at infosec@exclaimer.com.
Our Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is part of our end user license agreement (EULA) which can be found here.
How do I make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR)?
If you wish to make a DSAR to Exclaimer, please in the first instance send an email to infosec@exclaimer.com. We will take steps to confirm your identity before any further action is taken.
Further questions
If you have further questions about Exclaimer’s GDPR policies or service options that may assist you with your GDPR compliance needs, please liaise with your Exclaimer representative or email infosec@exclaimer.com.