Cayman Islands Ombudsman releases DP Fact Sheet & GDPR
From The Office of the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman publishes “Data Protection Fact Sheet – Ten steps to take now”, and provides information on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The Cayman Islands’ Data Protection Law (DPL) will come into effect in January 2019. The DPL is compatible with data protection rules in the European Union (EU), and shares many of the same definitions and provisions with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force on 25 May.
The Office of the Ombudsman will be tasked with enforcement of the DPL, and has now published guidance entitled “Data Protection Fact Sheet – Ten steps to take now”, available on the Office’s new website.1
The Ombudsman, Ms. Sandy Hermiston, said: “I want to encourage everyone who gathers personal data to take these ten steps to raise awareness, become familiar with basic concepts, and learn more about their legal rights and obligations. The time to prepare for compliance is now!”
The Office of the Ombudsman will be producing more tools and guidance that will help individuals and businesses understand their rights and obligations under the DPL in the coming months.
The EU’s GDPR does not apply directly to most businesses and organizations in the Cayman Islands.
However, any business, organization or public entity, whether based in the EU or not, that collects the personal information of European individuals may be subject to the GDPR, particularly if they have an establishment in the EU, offer goods or services to individuals in the EU, or monitor the behaviour of individuals in the EU.
The Office of the Ombudsman does not play any role in enforcing the GDPR, and does not offer any advice on compliance with the GDPR. You can find a list of resources on the GDPR, on our website.2
1 http://ombudsman.ky/images/pdf/pol_guide/OMB-DP-Fact-Sheet-Ten-steps-20180529.pdf
