Issue Brief: The General Data Protection Regulation: What Does It Mean for Libraries Worldwide?; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via Association of Research Libraries, May 2018

Anne T. Gilliland, Scholarly Communications Officer, University Libraries, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  via Association of Research Libraries; Issue Brief: The General Data Protection Regulation: What Does It Mean forLibraries Worldwide?

"Although GDPR is an EU regulation, it has implications for businesses and institutions that collect data even outside the EU. Anne T. Gilliland, scholarly communications officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, explains some of the key provisions of GDPR and why its impact reaches worldwide. Gilliland notes that the research library community has ties to Europe and EU citizens. Libraries must therefore consider the implications GDPR will have on their own privacy policies and how to ensure compliance with these new rules. As staunch defenders of privacy rights, libraries have an opportunity to ensure robust protection of users’ rights. Because GDPR has not yet gone into effect, there is no case law or other binding guidance regarding GDPR compliance.

The Association of Research Libraries will continue to monitor developments on GDPR and will publish a follow-up piece focusing on implementation. In the meantime, the following resources may be useful:

• EU’s GDPR Information Portal 

• Library of Congress, “Online Privacy Law: European Union” 

• LIBER, Webinar Video: “GDPR & What It Means for Researchers”"