Event organisers, production companies and venues booking event crews are receiving significant assistance in GDPR-required data processing, thanks to our client-crew app. Since GDPR Day – 25 May – we’ve seen an increase in new user sign-ups of over 20 per day.
The app was launched in 2017, with the initial aim of enhancing efficiency and improving communication between clients and crews. But in recent months it has been adapted to become a key part of our GDPR compliance preparations.
Gallowglass Head of IT Darren Thorley said: “We’re routinely asked by clients for varying amounts of information about the individuals who will be working on their sites. And, with a workforce of over 600, we store a lot of personally-identifiable data. Among several other benefits, the app provides a means of managing name requests quickly, simply and securely.”
Since GDPR came into force, record numbers of companies have registered to use the Gallowglass app, as it is providing clients with a faster and more efficient alternative to the way they’ve had to request crew names and contact numbers in the past.
“We knew that to be GDPR-compliant we would have to store and transmit information in a secure manner, and to record who we had shared that information with, especially as we are routinely part of a communication chain extending to other companies”, added Thorley.
“So, we’re now working on incorporating a data request form into the app, so that information will be able to be securely stored and logged, before being transmitted. This will streamline the whole process.”
As well as featuring crew contact numbers, the Gallowglass app includes profile photographs of all individuals assigned to a given job.
The information stored on the app is encrypted, non-permanent, and can only be accessed securely using an authenticated password. The company is able to record the date and time people logged-on to the app, showing when data was last accessed.
For jobs where standard security information is needed, the app will deliver that information to the client in a secure manner in an easy-to-manage way.
“We understand that for large jobs, there will be instances when additional information is required that is not held by default - such as addresses, driving licence details and passport numbers. If this is information that hasn’t been gathered with consent before, extra time will now be needed to obtain the explicit consent to hold that data from the individual concerned. And we’ll still be able to provide this information securely, but, at the moment, we have a few more hoops to jump through before we can share that data via the app”, said Thorley.
On smaller, routine crewing jobs when the client needs no more than the names of the crew and the contact number of the lead crew man, the information will be available via the app by default and no consent forms will be required.
We are providing our app free of charge to clients.
