What is the GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law adopted in the European Union (EU) in 2016 and taking effect in May 2018. The GDPR is designed to improve privacy and data protection for EU citizens, in part by providing uniform guidelines across all member states. While it is a European law, it could impact businesses around the world, especially those that do business with people or companies in the EU.
Is Hawaii Information Service affected by the GDPR?
We have consulted with our MLS attorney, which has concluded that the GDPR does not directly apply to HIS, as we do not provide information or services to, or market to, individuals or businesses in the EU. However, one exception affects public-facing websites that we provide for customers and to the public, which may be visited or used by people in the EU. On this front, we are updating our standard terms of service and privacy policy to ensure that they address GDPR requirements, which fortunately are similar to the existing terms.
If Hawaii Information Service is your website provider, your privacy policy will also be updated.
Is my business affected by the GDPR?
Please note that our MLS rules do require that participants comply with all applicable laws, particularly as they relate to contributions to the MLS. If your company has a public website, there are likely changes you need to make to your privacy policy and practices. If you have clients in the EU, you should conduct your own analysis to determine whether and to what extend the GDPR applies to your company, as there are more specific requirements you should be aware of, such as how customer data is stored and processed.
Where can I learn more?
Wikipedia provides a good overview of the GDPR:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
For real estate specifically, a recent Inman article provides some general advice for real estate brokerages:
https://www.inman.com/2018/03/16/is-your-real-estate-brokerage-ready-for-general-data-protection-regulation/
“GDPR and What it Means to You” was published on the NAR YPN Lounge blog:
http://ypnlounge.blogs.realtor.org/2018/05/22/gdbr-and-what-it-means-to-you/#sf190568610
And the WAV Group recently published a whitepaper on the topic, “How Europe’s New Personal Data Rule Impacts Real Estate”:
http://waves.wavgroup.com/2018/04/02/how-europes-new-personal-data-rule-impacts-real-estate/
For general businesses, there are guides from Microsoft and Google for their respective customers that may be helpful:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/TrustCenter/Privacy/gdpr/default.aspx
https://cloud.google.com/security/gdpr/
What if I still have questions?
Please send an email to us at support@hiinfo.com. We will improve and update this page as more information becomes available.