As a hotelier, providing warm hospitality and top-notch service to your guests is always a top priority. But in today’s digital age, ensuring the privacy and security of your guest’s personal data is just as important. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in place, hotels are required to protect the personal data of their guests and be transparent about how it is collected and used.
But data protection isn’t just a legal requirement; it’s also crucial for maintaining trust with your guests. In the hospitality industry, trust is everything. If guests don’t feel confident that their personal data is being handled responsibly, they may be hesitant to book with your hotel.
Understanding Hotel GDPR Compliance
Before we discuss GDPR and how it affects hotels, it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of the regulation. In this section, we’ll provide a high-level overview of GDPR and its main provisions, as well as the impact it has had on the hospitality industry.
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a binding EU regulation that strengthens data protection and privacy for individuals within the European Union and European Economic Area. It protects individuals’ fundamental rights and freedoms related to their personal data and provides stricter rules for organizations handling personal data, including penalties for non-compliance. It came into effect on May 25, 2018, replacing the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive.
Key Terms and Definitions
In order to fully understand the regulation and comply with it, it’s essential to be familiar with key terms and definitions used in GDPR. Below, we’ve provided a list of some important GDPR terms:
- Personal Data: Any information that identifies a person, like name, address, phone number, email address.
- Sensitive Data: Data that reveals an individual’s sensitive information, like racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.
- Data Subjects: People whose data is being handled by organizations.
- Data Breaches: Unauthorized access, destruction, use, alteration, or disclosure of personal data.
- Data Controllers: Organizations that decide how and why personal data is processed.
- Data Processors: Organizations that process personal data on behalf of data controllers, like IT providers or customer support companies.
- Data Protection officer (DPO): A person appointed by a controller or processor to ensure compliance with GDPR.
- Data Protection Authority (DPA): Government bodies responsible for enforcing GDPR regulations within their respective countries.
Does GDPR Apply To Your Hotel?
GDPR applies to organizations of all sizes, both inside and outside the EU, who process the personal data of EU citizens. All hotels, must comply with GDPR because hotels often host guests from around the world, and it is almost impossible to restrict users from a whole continent. Hence, the easiest and best course of action is to ensure compliance with GDPR regulations in order to protect the personal data of guests and avoid any penalties.
Under GDPR, What Data Privacy Rights Do Individuals Have?
Under GDPR, hotel guests have certain rights when it comes to their personal data. These rights give them control over their information. Hotels must understand and respect these rights to follow GDPR regulations.
- The right to be informed: Hotel guests have the right to be informed about how their personal data will be collected, used, and stored. This information must be provided to guests in a clear and concise manner.
- The right of access: Hotel guests have the right to request access to their personal data and to obtain a copy of their personal data.
- The right to rectification: Hotel guests have the right to request that any incorrect or incomplete personal data be corrected.
- The right to erasure: Hotel guests have the right to request that their personal data be erased in certain circumstances, such as when the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
- The right to restrict processing: Hotel guests have the right to request that their personal data be processed only in certain limited ways, such as for storage purposes.
- The right to data portability: Hotel guests have the right to request that their personal data be transferred to another organization in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
- The right to object: Hotel guests have the right to object to the processing of their personal data in certain circumstances, such as for marketing purposes.
What Are The Hotel Obligations Under GDPR?
GDPR requires all hotels (organizations) to follow certain procedures when collecting, using, and storing the personal data in order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Some of the key obligations that hotels must fulfill under GDPR include the following:
- Collecting and processing personal data fairly: Hotels must ensure that they collect and process personal data fairly and transparently, meaning that they must be open and honest with guests about how their personal data will be used.
- Protecting personal data: Hotels must implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access, misuse, or destruction.
- Meet GDPR response time expectations: As per GDPR guidelines, you must respond to requests for personal data within one month. If you need more time, you must inform the requestor in a timely manner.
- Reporting data breaches: If a hotel experiences a data breach that poses a risk to the rights and freedoms of its guests, it must report the breach to the relevant supervisory authority and, in some cases, to the affected individuals.
5 Steps to Make Your Hotel GDPR Compliant
As a hotel owner or manager, it’s important to ensure that your business is fully compliant with the GDPR. To help you get started, here are 5 steps that you can take:
Conduct Data Audit
The first step towards GDPR compliance is to understand what personal data your hotel holds and why you are holding it. Conduct a thorough data audit to identify what personal data you have, where it came from, and how it is being used. This will help you to determine what data needs to be protected and what can be safely deleted.
Review Your Data Protection Policies
Once you have a clear understanding of the personal data that your hotel holds, it’s time to review your data protection policies. These should outline the purposes for which you collect and use personal data, as well as the rights of individuals in relation to their personal data. Make sure that your policies are clear, concise, and easy to understand, and that they are in line with the GDPR requirements.
Implement Data Security Measures
The GDPR requires businesses to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. This includes measures such as password protection, encryption, and regular security updates. Make sure that your hotel has robust data security measures in place to protect the personal data of your guests and employees.
Train Your Staff on GDPR compliance
Train Your Staff on GDPR compliance including understanding the data protection principles, the rights of individuals, and the necessary technical and organizational measures that must be implemented to protect personal data. Also consider appointing a Data Protection Officer (if required) to oversee data protection compliance within your organization and act as a point of contact for data protection authorities and individuals whose data is being processed.
Review Your Contracts
If you work with third parties (such as marketing agencies or payment processors) that process personal data on your behalf, review your contracts to ensure that they are GDPR compliant. This includes ensuring that they have appropriate measures in place to protect personal data and that they only process personal data in accordance with your instructions.
By following these 5 simple steps, you can ensure that your hotel is GDPR compliant and protect your guests’ data. This will not only help you avoid costly fines, but also build trust with your guests and maintain a positive reputation for your business.
What Happens if Your Hotel Doesn’t Comply with GDPR
It’s no secret that GDPR fines are on the rise. In fact, recent reports show that the frequency and amount of GDPR fines are increasing year over year. And unfortunately, even large, well-known hotels like Marriot have found themselves on the receiving end of these hefty fines.
So what happens if your hotel doesn’t comply with GDPR regulations? The consequences can be severe and far-reaching. Here are just a few examples of the potential impacts of non-compliance:
- Financial penalties: GDPR fines can be substantial, with the maximum penalty being up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global annual revenue, whichever is higher. For a hotel, these fines could be financially devastating.
- Reputational damage: A GDPR fine can damage a hotel’s reputation, causing guests to lose trust in the hotel’s ability to protect their personal data. This can lead to a decrease in bookings and revenue.
- Legal action: Non-compliance with GDPR can also lead to legal action, including lawsuits from individuals whose data has been mishandled. This can result in additional financial costs and a drain on resources.
As you can see, the consequences of non-compliance with GDPR can be significant. That’s why it’s so important for hotels to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance. By complying with GDPR,, hotels can prevent potential financial and reputational consequences of non-compliance.
Expert Tips for Avoiding GDPR Fines: A Rescue Plan for Hoteliers
- Audit and familiarize yourself with the data being collected, how it is stored and processed internally.
- Get an outside review, such as a free technical privacy report, to check for data leaks, vulnerabilities, and other issues.
- Consider hiring a Data Protection Officer (DPO) or get support from a trusted company.
- Have a data request process and response plan in place, as the one month limit for compliance can go by quickly.
- Make use of existing security and privacy frameworks, such as NIST, to ensure compliance.
- Implement privacy by design and privacy by default in all data collection processes.
- Train your staff and sign up to be notified of free online webinars from Hotelcrux discussing data privacy for hoteliers.
- use products and services dedicated to providing the highest standards for data security and user privacy, such as using HotelCrux products built specifically for hotels and hoteliers that follow privacy by design and privacy by default principles.
Act Now to Protect Your Business and Customers: We’re Here to Help You with GDPR Compliance
It’s important to take GDPR compliance seriously to protect against potential financial and reputational consequences. But with the right tools and resources, achieving compliance doesn’t have to be overwhelming. At HotelCrux, we offer a range of services and solutions to help hotels ensure GDPR compliance, including free technical privacy report. Don’t let GDPR fines be a concern for your hotel. Get a free report to assess your website’s GDPR compliance score and receive a detailed report at no cost. Let us help you navigate the complex world of data privacy and security.
I hope this blog post has helped you understand the importance of GDPR compliance and data protection in the hospitality industry. If you have any further questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to contact us
Inder Kahlon
HotelCrux