Eclipse launches new application to help law firms mitigate risk of GDPR fines

Eclipse Legal Systems – the UK’s leading legal software provider – has announced the launch of a new application to assist law firms in attaining compliance with the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

As of May 2018, all organisations will be required to comply with GDPR, the new legal framework which seeks to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the EU. More wide-reaching and onerous than the existing Data Protection Act, GDPR also carries the threat of severe financial penalties for firms found to be in breach, with maximum fines being 20 million Euros, or 4% of the firm’s global turnover – whichever is higher.

Created using Eclipse’s suite of rapid development tools, the new application is an ‘Information Asset Register’ – a software tool that provides firms with a ‘map’ of what type of data they hold, if consent has been agreed, where the data was obtained, why the data is being used, and if it has an expiry date. These data ‘reasons’ are all key elements of the GDPR and it is widely accepted that all organisations much have an Information Asset Register as a default requirement.

Eclipse’s Information Asset Register has been created as a standalone application – accessible outside of the firm’s Law Society Endorsed ‘Proclaim’ case and practice management solution in order for all organisations to benefit – not just current Eclipse clients. The system can be delivered on-premise or in a hosted environment.

Eclipse’s business solutions director, Tracy Blencowe (pictured), explains further:

“GDPR will have a huge impact on how organisations collect and manage the data of their staff, clients, and prospective clients. All businesses will need an Information Asset Register to track what data they hold and why – this is a minimum requirement, and businesses without a solution are automatically exposed to the ‘lower’ level fines of the higher of 10 million Euros, or 2% of global turnover.

“Our new Information Asset Register system provides an accessible and low-cost platform to enable law firms to implement best-practise processes and mitigate the risk of the severe financial penalties that a breach of GDPR will bring.”

Kindly shared by Eclipse Legal Systems