GDPR for Small Businesses in Plain English
Two letters short of a panic attack for most owners — usually because of a £17.5m headline that has almost nothing to do with you. Here's the payment most small businesses owe, what the regulator actually acts on, and what you can safely ignore.
The short version
- Small businesses are not exempt — but being in scope is not the same as being at risk
- The data protection fee is £52 a year for micro businesses (£47 by direct debit) and takes ten minutes online
- Enforcement concentrates on three things: inadequate security, ignored data requests, and marketing without consent
- For a first mistake handled cooperatively, the normal outcome is a reprimand and a fix — not a company-ending fine