Data Processing Agreement (DPA)

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a piece of legislation that is designed to strengthen and unify data protection laws for all individuals within the European Union. The regulation will become effective and enforceable on May 25, 2018.

ReferralHero is fully committed to achieving and upholding ongoing compliance with GDPR prior to the effective date.

What we’re doing about the GDPR

Here’s a high-level overview of our GDPR Compliance Roadmap:

  • ✔︎ Appoint a Data Protection Officer – COMPLETED
  • ✔︎ Thoroughly research the areas of our product and business impacted by GDPR – COMPLETED
  • ✔︎ Rewrite our Privacy Policy – COMPLETED
  • ✔︎ Perform the necessary changes/improvements to our product based on the requirements – COMPLETED
  • ✔︎ Implement the required changes to our internal processes and procedures required to achieve and maintain compliance with GDPR – COMPLETED
  • ✔︎ Create a Data Protection Agreement – COMPLETED
  • ︎︎✔ Thoroughly test all of changes to verify & validate compliance with GDPR – COMPLETED
  • ✔ Communicate our compliance – COMPLETED

We have officially completed our GDPR compliance. You can read more here.

What is the GDPR?

The General Data Protection Act (GDPR) is considered to be the most significant piece of European data protection legislation to be introduced in the European Union (EU) in 20 years and will replace the the 1995 Data Protection Directive.

The GDPR regulates the processing of personal data about individuals in the European Union including its collection, storage, transfer or use. Importantly, under the GDPR, the concept of “personal data” is very broad and covers any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual (also called a “data subject”).

It gives data subjects more rights and control over their data by regulating how companies should handle and store the personal data they collect. The GDPR also raises the stakes for compliance by increasing enforcement and imposing greater fines should the provisions of the GDPR be breached.

The GDPR enhances EU individuals’ privacy rights and places significantly enhanced obligations on organizations handling data.

In summary, here are some of the key changes to come into effect with the upcoming GDPR:

  • Expanded rights for individuals: The GDPR provides expanded rights for individuals in the European Union by granting them, among other things, the right to be forgotten and the right to request a copy of any personal data stored in their regard.
  • Compliance obligations: The GDPR requires organizations to implement appropriate policies and security protocols, conduct privacy impact assessments, keep detailed records on data activities and enter into written agreements with vendors
  • Data breach notification and security: The GDPR requires organizations to report certain data breaches to data protection authorities, and under certain circumstances, to the affected data subjects. The GDPR also places additional security requirements on organizations.
  • New requirements for profiling and monitoring: The GDPR places additional obligations on organizations engaged in profiling or monitoring behavior of EU individuals.
  • Increased enforcement: Under the GDPR, authorities can fine organizations up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of a company’s annual global revenue, based on the seriousness of the breach and damages incurred. Also, the GDPR provides a central point of enforcement for organizations with operations in multiple EU member states by requiring companies to work with a lead supervisory authority for cross-border data protection issues.

If you are a company outside the EU, this still affects you. The provisions of the GDPR apply to any organization that processes personal data of individuals in the European Union, including tracking their online activities, regardless of whether the organization has a physical presence in the EU.

What do ReferralHero Customers need to do?

Make sure your Terms of Service or Privacy Policy properly communicate to your users how you are using ReferralHero (and any other similar services) on your website or app. GDPR can heavily penalize you if you’ve not done this clearly. We recommend you ensure your policies are up to date and clear to your readers.

You can review and digitally sign a copy of ReferralHero's Data Processing Agreement here. After you sign our DPA you will be able to download it in PDF.

If you have any GDPR request related to your data on ReferralHero you can send them to support@referralhero.com

Last Edited on 01-03-2022