GDPR is the word of the year. The acronym, which refers to the European regulation that protects personal data, has seen an impressive growth in search volume, indicating an increasing interest in the topic of privacy.

GPDR is one of the topics that will be on the table of APRO18 (Roma, 15-16 June), the annual Assoprovider conference to discuss key issues for the development of telecommunications infrastructure and services in Italy.  

To launch some points for reflection, which will be widely discussed in Rome, we have reached Antonio Aprea, one of the members of Assoprovider, GDPR expert and owner of the company NowTech.

Much has been written about GDPR in recent months. What do you think is the real value of the regulation?

"It is certainly in the reflection on what personal data is and the impact it has on all our lives. The regulation gives rise to an awareness. The hope is that it helps many to fully understand the meaning of those small boxes that are checked every day on various online and paper contracts."

But between "saying and doing" there is the effort that every user must make to change  attitude and become more informed. How to truly raise awareness about privacy?

"Simplifying messages. I always make an analogy to explain what we are talking about. If your identity card is stolen, you despair, you wonder what they might do with your personal data and you know you will have difficulties because it is necessary for an endless series of activities you perform every day. The same concern should occur when your data is stolen on the Network, the risks you face can be even greater compared to the loss of one of your documents."

What is the real impact of the regulation on people's lives?

"If we imagine just how annoying the calls we receive every day from telephone companies can be, trying to sell us everything—and very often because we have authorized them to do so ourselves—we understand how much better everyone's life could be. The benefit is not becoming, as happens today, passive objects of wild marketing every day."

Companies, especially digital ones, cannot do without data. Who will the regulation truly benefit?

whether the business is digital or not, what works in the relationship with the customer is always transparency.  It is transparency, in fact, that inspires trust and loyalty, especially if you are a small or medium-sized enterprise and need to continuously customize your offer. The regulation will reward those who have established a transparent relationship with their customers from the very beginning. And it will give more headaches to the crafty ones, hopefully pushing them increasingly to the margins of the market».

There are many companies that still have not complied. What advice do you give them?

"First and foremost, to digitize themselves. There are software solutions that allow everything to be done automatically. At NowTech, for example, we have experimented with a platform that acts as an electronic register. Here, the activities carried out by the company and how it uses its users' data can be indicated. Furthermore, the software performs continuous backups and can be modified with extreme ease as business conditions change."