Page 12 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - June 2018

HOW GDPR COSTS COULD WIDEN THE GAP BETWEEN

SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES

WILL THE GAPS WIDEN FURTHER BETWEEN SMALL AND LARGE FIRMS

by Reza Moaiandin, Founder, Cyber Scanner

In every line of business, there are always factors that can make breaking through to
greater success seem insurmountable. While the causes change, the impact on smaller
businesses never does. Online businesses currently have a new issue to tackle when it
comes to the oncoming storm of General Data Protection Regulation.

THE CREATION OF A WEIGHTED MARKETPLACE

Sometimes the costs of running a business mean that you end up with an uncompetitive
marketplace. The way most people understand this is by looking at large supermarket
chains. If one brand can buy a hundred times the stock than another – and therefore
can lower the price of each individual unit through deals to buy in bulk – then the
smaller brand has no way of competing.

It cannot cut its prices until it grows past a certain point, and it cannot grow past that
certain point because of higher prices. The latter is stuck in a catch 22 situation, while
the market leader look more and more impossible to unseat or even challenge in any
kind of fair manner. This is one way in which you end up with a stifled, uncompetitive
marketplace.

However, we don’t tend to think that way about the costs faced by online businesses –
but we should.

WHAT’S FACING ONLINE BUSINESSES
Just because an online business doesn’t have the same financial demands as physical
stores, that doesn’t mean there aren’t costs. This makes it possible for larger, more
established businesses to weather expenses that a smaller business cannot, therefore
knocking those businesses out of their industries. This results in lost livelihoods, less
innovation and less choice for consumers.

The looming threat on the horizon in this instance is GDPR, otherwise known as
General Data Protection Regulation. If, like many currently facing this issue, you’re
wondering what that is, it’s a set of regulations in EU law that’s intended to give people
control over their personal data. And in case you were wondering, no, Brexit won’t make
any difference to this legislation or when it comes into effect.

12 Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2018 Edition
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