A Simple Guide To Using Your Personalised USB Drive under GDPR

6th November 2018 Jonathan Buyer Advice

In May 2018, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) replaced the outdated Data Protection Directive. The new regulations were taken into effect across the whole of the European Union, with businesses and organisations now having to adhere to strict data protection regulations. So what does this mean for individuals who store large amounts of data on their custom USB sticks for businesses purposes?

 

GDPR Explained

Under the new guidelines, companies now have to adopt the best security practices where confidential data is handled or used on a daily basis. Failure to do so means a business could be fined up to 2% of its annual turnover, which is why it is important to follow the new regulations to avoid fines and setbacks in your company:

• Establish effective and routine processes to protect all customer and client data
• Appoint a Data Protection Officer to manage and report data breaches to governing bodies
• All companies must be able to provide evidence that they have consent to contact customers or individuals beyond the original transaction.

Branded Flash Drives to store Personal Data

Once you have purchased your very own custom USB stick from Flash UK, you will realise the endless benefits when it comes to storing data in a mobile fashion. No one likes to carry folders of personal information around on public transport or leave it lying around the office! So how should you go about storing this data and what’s the best way to ensure it’s 100% secure?

Encrypting your USB flash drive

This is a simple process which only takes a few minutes on either a Windows PC or Mac, but is a highly effective way of making sure your own USB stick can’t be accessed by any other person in or outside of your organisation:

On a Windows PC

1. Log into your administrator account on your computer
2. Ensure you have your USB drive to hand and inserted into the USB port.
3. Open up the ‘This PC’ folder and locate your USB drive. Right click on the icon.
4. From the menu, click Turn on BitLocker
5. Turn the software ‘on’ and pick a password which you will have to enter twice to confirm.
6. You’re ready to use your encrypted branded USB stick!

On a MAC

1. First, you will need to reformat your USB. To do so open the Disk Utility App and select the USB drive, then click ‘erase’.
2. Select the MacOS Extended format when you erase the drive, specifying ‘HFS+ filesystem’ to reformat appropriately.
3. Right-click the USB drive, and select ‘encrypt’ – then, pick a password you know and won’t forget!
4. The encryption process may take a few minutes, but once completed you will have a fully-encrypted USB stick.

 

For more information on GDPR in relation to your business, or how you can improve privacy regulation when it comes to dealing with important and protected data, please visit the EU GDPR website.

 

Choose Flash UK for your Branded USB Drive

With a range of fantastic products for sale, Flash UK are the experts in personalised USB drives and branded flash drives. If you are looking for effective ways to store your business or personal data, contact our friendly team or purchase our products online for fast and reliable free UK delivery, today!