Society GDPR compliance
26 January 2021
The ISDS is currently undertaking an “IT Audit”. The goal of this audit is to “understand how the society is using technology and how it can potentially evolve to serve members in a more efficient and cost-effective way”. Put simply, we want to provide a better service but do it more cheaply.
Although the IT Audit will take some time to complete, as a society, we will have some work to do between now and then. One such example is fixing GDPR compliance issues, new rules relating to how we collect and process personal data came into effect in the UK on 25th May 2018. We would like to make it very clear that the ISDS considers that the data that it owns and manages, regarding breeders, owners and dogs is a precious asset that requires the best protection. We would also like to state, very clearly, that there has been no malicious or accidental compromise of data. However, early stages of the IT audit have shown that the society has not prepared adequately for GDPR legislation and this is something that we must fix immediately. We would like to apologise to all of our members for not being in a position of compliance sooner but would also like to assure you that the ISDS Chairman and team, that is now in-place, is fully aware of the issues, understands how to address them and will deliver solutions as remedies in a timely manner.
An example of this inadequate GDPR preparation is that we have not sought explicit consent from dog breeders and owners that their name and location be included in pedigree certificates or the stud book; both of which are published artefacts that are sold to consumers. On our membership subscription pages and puppy packs, we use declaration tick boxes, but the fact is that these declarations are not adequate and not implemented in a way that complies with GDPR legislation. As a direct result of this, production of pedigree certificates and the annual studbook for 2019 have been suspended pending a formal review. The 2019 hardback studbook has not yet been published and will not go to print until its contents are GDPR compliant. As a direct consequence of these findings, ‘ISDS Four Generation Pedigree Certificate’ purchase has been removed from the ISDS shop.
We deeply regret the position that we find ourselves in now but are working hard to rectify the problem in the most efficient way that we can. We will keep you updated with progress regarding GDPR, pedigree certificates and the hardback studbook.
