GDPR: visitor books vs visitor management apps

GDPR - four letters that caused a lot of commotion at the beginning of last year. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, and by now many businesses should have made relevant changes to comply with the regulations. But, have you considered whether your company’s visitor management process is fit for purpose with regards to GDPR? Below we’ve shared a few points that are necessary for GDPR compliance and compared traditional visitor sign-in books with visitor management apps.

Control over data privacy

How many people reading this would admit to looking at who’s signed in before them when signing into a visitor book? Visitor sign-in books can make it very difficult to keep visitor data private. A visitor management app allows you to have an accurate record of visitor data without compromising their privacy. There should be built-in features in the app that will allow you to hide visitor names and limit those who have access to the data.

Erase data easily

If you’re complying with GDPR, you should be able to erase data easily upon request. With visitor books, it may take time to find the individual’s data, and in order to erase their data, you may have to erase others too if it’s on the same page. However, when using a visitor management app, you should have access to a secure online portal which will allow you to set automated data retention periods. Being able to set these periods will also ensure you only keep the data for as long as necessary.

Only getting the information you need

With a traditional visitor book, the information you’re collecting will be the same for each visitor as they will all complete the same details listed in the book. Using a visitor management app, you should be able to tailor the sign-in process for different visitors to ensure that you only ask for the information you need.

Policies and agreements

With traditional methods of visitor management, it has been difficult to effectively manage the process of gaining agreements or notify visitors of important terms and conditions or your site’s policies. With modern visitor management apps, you can streamline this into one seamless process, enhancing your site's safety in a compliant way.

Utilising technology

As you could imagine, pen and paper is pretty restrictive when it comes to doing anything fancy with a process, with the use of technology you can really enhance your visitor process. Your guests are greeted with an impressive screen displaying your logo. You can take photos of your visitors if required, and print a visitor badge, enhancing security and safety again. The camera can also be used to scan a QR code for sign out, meaning you do not have to display a list of names, helping you to further advance your company's data integrity

It’s clear to see how complying with GDPR can be a lot easier with a smart visitor management app compared with traditional visitor books. We can’t guarantee that all visitor management apps will do the above, but what we can guarantee is that Sign In App does. If you’d like to find out more, give us a call on 0333 016 3551 or drop us an email on info@signinapp.com and one of the team will be happy to help.