Teleena, a global IoT and Mobility enabler headquartered in The Netherlands, has announced that it is ready for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to be implemented.

“Teleena continuously works to improve the services we offer to our customers and partners. Protecting the data of customers and partners at all times is a big part of our mission,” stated Teleena in its official announcement. “As Teleena processes personal data on behalf of our customers and partners, we are proud to be offering GDPR compliance to all our stakeholders. We do this according to the highest care and possible standards.”

The purpose of GDPR is to harmonize data protection laws across the EU, and it is set to come into force on 25 May 2018. Every business that serves customers located in the EU will be required to ensure compliance with GDPR even if located outside the region. Those businesses that fail to comply with the regulation can face penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of their global annual turnover.

For Teleena and other telecoms businesses, the impact of GDPR is significant. The regulation requires businesses to obtain explicit opt-in consent from data subjects to store and use their data, it gives data subjects the right to obtain, transfer, and delete their personal data, and it establishes stricter rules for data breaches, requiring businesses to notify the data protection authority and customers within 72 hours of a data breach, just to name a few key points.

GDPR is expected to bring widespread changes across the telecom landscape, but it also represents an opportunity for telecoms businesses to transform their data management workflows and make their operations leaner and agile.