How Can APIs Enable GDPR Compliance?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is considered “the world’s strongest set of data protection rules,” enforcing limits on what organizations can do with personal data in the EU.

Its enforcement since 2018 led to varying effects in countries outside the EU, inspiring new data privacy laws around the world. Commercially speaking, it has become a trading measure for countries to do business with the EU. Especially if they want to get a piece of the EU’s data processing market, or want to sell to European residents, they will have to follow and comply with the rules and regulations set forth by the GDPR. Some countries incorporated GDPR’s provisions into their existing privacy laws, while others have enacted nationwide GDPR-like legislations. 

“The thing is, the U.S. now has many laws which are following GDPR,” says Mehdi Medjaoui, co-founder of Alias, a data protection API engine. “China has a law following GDPR. Singapore, India, Australia, and 60 countries have GDPR-like regulations. So, it's not only Europe, it's worldwide. And by the end of the year, two-thirds of the world’s population will be under GDPR regulation.” 

However, managing the requirements of GDPR compliance is easier said than done. It can be a daunting and onerous task for organizations to ensure compliance.

Medjaoui shared some advice on how you can facilitate GDPR compliance through APIs on our podcast, Coding over Cocktails. You can view the full interview on YouTube below.

During the interview, Medjaoui shared how he and his team have developed APIs to help organizations to achieve GDPR compliance. These are the PII Storage Duration API and the GDPR Events API, which we’ll explain below:

PII Storage Duration API

Alias’ PII Storage Duration API allows developers and data protection officers to determine the correct storage duration to use when managing their customers’ Personally Identifiable Information, or PII.

Medjaoui explains how organizations would be able to use this API and integrate it directly with their product UIs to implement duration compliance.

“We help you know what type of data, where it starts, and how you collect it. [There’s] a lot of value — but we help you say, ‘Oh, this data in this context is two years. But in this other country, the same context is five years. And this country in the same context is three years.’ We give you the whole jurisprudence [and] all the legal cases to tell you, without knowing the law, what you have to do with the data,” he says.

GDPR Events API

On the other hand, the Alias Events API enables users to “listen” to the events that happen within systems, maximizing the use of data according to the relevant laws. This API offers tech teams in charge of implementing GDPR compliance a framework and access to legal parameters set by compliance teams with data types, storage durations, and events.

“So, we look at all those available in the country, and we tell you when the user, for example, becomes a customer,” Medjaoui says. “From prospect to customer, you have the right to keep the data for longer, but you also have the obligation to keep some data for five years or 10 years.”

You can learn more about managing GPDR compliance via APIs, and listen to more of the world’s leading experts on architecture, design, and the technologies that facilitate digital transformation on the Coding over Cocktails podcast.