Interpreting GDPR: Because There’s No ‘One Size Fits All’

Interpreting GDPR: Because there’s no ‘one size fits all’

Published: 27 March 2025

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a robust framework that sets the standard for UK data protection, but here's the thing: one size most definitely does not fit all.

Implementing its requirements can look dramatically different from one business to the next. We all need to get our heads around the fact that GDPR isn’t a box to squeeze our data management into, but a guide to be interpreted through the lens of our own needs.

What does your business really need

Whether you run a small startup or control data for a big corporate, the way you apply GDPR will differ based on your business type, the data being handled, and the resources that you have available to help you. What works for one organisation may not work for another. A private health company processing masses of sensitive personal data needs a different approach from the high street coffee shop that runs a latte loyalty scheme. Trying to make every business fit the same mould will lead to overcomplication for some, and risky undercompliance for others.

Engaging our own judgement

The uncomfortable truth is that we can’t just read the requirements of GDPR and implement what’s written on the page. Rather – and annoyingly for those who just want to get on with it – we need time to interpret the requirements, not just as a set of regulations, but as a framework for ethical data management.

By understanding the principles and how they align with our own business processes, we engage with our own judgement, ethics, and practical working needs. This way, we’re making informed decisions that make sense to us and feel right. What’s more, changes made this way are much more likely to stick.

One concept, many responses

As an example, understanding concepts like ‘data minimisation’ or ‘legitimate interest’ may need businesses to really think about what data is truly must-have for the way they work. That’s going to differ widely between that same healthcare company and Lucy’s Lattes. One concept, two very different responses.

Business with morals

The GDPR doesn’t impose a standard one-size-fits-all approach; it’s a framework that will leave a unique imprint on every business it touches.

The way it impacts our data practices, policies, and processes will reflect who we are as businesses, and something of who we are as people too. By taking a thoughtful, contextual approach, we’ll not only address legal requirements but strengthen trust with customers and protect our livelihoods into the bargain.

GDPR doesn’t change the way we do business. It changes how we think about real people’s data and how we protect it. In short, businesses that approach the regulation with their moral compass engaged – ready to seek advice and training when they need it – are the ones most likely to thrive.