The 1995 EU Data Protection Directive was an important initiative, designed to protect an individual’s privacy and prescribe how information about individuals is stored and used. This resulted in similar Data Protection standards across the EU, including the Data Protection Act in the UK in 1998. With the rise of the internet, this legislation was timely. In order to ensure that personal data on EU citizens stored outside of the EU met the minimum standards required by the EU Data Protection Directive, any software used in the EU but based overseas had to demonstrate a similar level of

Cloud-based services have been growing in popularity over the last few years. These services are delivered online and are usually paid for on an ongoing basis, with flexible pricing depending on the needs of the user. This usually results in lower costs and lower risks, combined with reliable and well-built software. While some unions are already using these services, their popularity will grow over the next few years. One cloud-based service that a number of unions are already using is MailChimp. This web-based application allows unions to email their members and can handle a huge number of

You may have noticed over the past few months that some websites you’ve visited have asked for your permission to use ‘cookies’. Not to be confused with the American biscuit, a cookie is a small text file that websites use to store data on your computer. The reason behind these messages is a controversial European Union law which came into force in May. Cookies have been used since an early web browser called Netscape introduced them back in 1994. By allowing websites to store small amounts of data on your computer, services like online shopping baskets and personalised content can be created