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Data Protection and GDPR Compliance Training Hub

Online courses for staff

Data protection starts with your people.  Every employee who handles personal data can create a risk if they don't understand their responsibilities under the legislation. Effective compliance training helps staff make better decisions in their daily roles and recognise potential risks, placing organisations in a stronger position to avoid breaches and meet GDPR requirements.

Skillcast provides expert-led, flexible online data protection training that can be rolled out across your organisation or tailored to your specific needs. Give your teams confidence to handle data responsibly, strengthen your compliance controls and reduce data protection risk.

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Data Protection Training for Staff

Understand data protection and maintain data governance

€1.2 billion

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) imposed its biggest fine of €1.2 billion on tech giant Meta in 2023*.

*BBC 

£2.8 million

The average fine issued by the ICO has increased from £150,000 in 2024 to £2.8 million in 2025**.

**Measured Collective

€530 million

The largest GDPR fine of 2025 was issued to TikTok , totalling €530 million***.

***Data Protection Commission
Data Protection 712 x 550 page v1vv 2

How this hub helps your teams

Reduce the risk of breaches and ensure knowledge translates into action with training that's relevant to each role.

  • Senior Leaders and Board Members:
    Strengthen oversight with clear visibility of staff understanding and training, helping demonstrate that data protection is embedded across the organisation.

  • Compliance, Legal, and Data Protection teams:

    Identify knowledge gaps and strengthen data protection controls with expert training that helps embed good data-handling practices and demonstrate compliance.

  • All Employees handling personal data:

    Build the confidence to handle personal data responsibly, recognise risks and respond appropriately to potential breaches with training relevant to day-to-day role of staff.

Similar compliance topics

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Financial crime compliance ensures data can be used responsibly to detect illicit activity

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Health & Safety

Health and safety compliance, paired with data protection, ensures personal information is secure

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Risk Management

Risk management and data protection compliance jointly protect sensitive information

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The new gamified assessment showed the team that knowledge was retained from year to year, which allowed them to focus their attention on more targeted training. It engaged learners as this was seen internally as a new and positive approach to training, and allowed the team to build better relationships as a result of the two points above.

Business Risk Manager,
Investment Management Firm

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Improve staff knowledge with our data protection e-learning courses

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PCI Data Security Standard Compliance Training Course

In-depth 60 Minutes UK For all staff

PCI Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is the information security standard for organisations that process credit card payments.

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Data Protection Compliance Training Course

In-depth 45 Minutes UK For all staff

Data protection relates to how all organisations collect, use, and store personal and sensitive data.

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General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

In-depth 30 Minutes Global For all staff

Data protection relates to how all organisations collect, use, and store personal and sensitive data.

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Data Protection

Refresher 15 Minutes UK For all staff

Data protection relates to how personal and sensitive data is collected, used and stored by all organisations.

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Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)

Express 15 Minutes UK For all staff

PECR are new regulations that, along with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (in the UK), give consumers specific rights in respect of electronic communications.

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Legitimate Interest Assessments

Express 10 Minutes UK For all staff

When relying on legitimate interests as a legal basis for processing personal data, you are taking on additional responsibility for protecting people's rights and interests.

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Controllers and Processors

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The differences between data controllers and data processors are crucial to understanding data protection obligations.

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GDPR Principle 1

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The first principle of the GDPR requires that personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.

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GDPR Principle 6

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The sixth principle of the GDPR, integrity and confidentiality, requires that personal data be protected against unauthorised access, loss or damage.

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Understanding the GDPR

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out key principles for handling personal data and protecting individuals' rights.

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Personal Data Breaches

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

Personal data breaches can occur through hacking, human error or unauthorised access, leading to serious legal and reputational consequences.

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Data Protection Impact Assessments

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) are used to evaluate our data processing activities and mitigate risks to individuals.

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Special Category Data

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

In many workplaces, sensitive data, including special category data, is collected and requires extra care.

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GDPR Principle 2

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The second principle of the GDPR, purpose limitation, requires that personal data be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.

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GDPR Principle 3

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The third principle of the GDPR, data minimisation, requires that personal data collected must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.

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GDPR Principle 4

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The fourth principle of the GDPR, accuracy, requires that personal data must be correct, up to date and not misleading.

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GDPR Principle 5

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The fifth principle of the GDPR, storage limitation, requires that personal data be retained only for as long as necessary for its intended purpose.

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GDPR Principle 7

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The seventh principle of the GDPR, accountability, requires organisations to take responsibility for compliance and demonstrate good governance in data protection.

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GDPR and Consent

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

Consent is one of the six lawful bases for processing personal data under the GDPR, requiring individuals to give clear, informed and voluntary agreement.

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GDPR Lawful Bases for Processing

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organisations to have a lawful basis for processing personal data, chosen from six legal grounds.

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GDPR Legitimate Interests

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

Legitimate interests is a flexible lawful basis for processing personal data, but it requires balancing business needs with individuals' rights.

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GDPR International Transfers

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The international transfer of personal data is restricted to ensure individuals' privacy rights are protected when data is sent abroad.

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GDPR Individual Rights

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) grants individuals eight specific rights over their personal data, ensuring transparency and control.

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GDPR Subject Access Requests

Microlearning 5 Minutes UK For all staff

Individuals have the right to access their personal data and organisations must respond to subject access requests (SARs) within legal timeframes.

Not sure where to begin?

We can help. Having delivered compliance training to over 1,400 customers, we understand what each business needs to achieve compliance success. That’s why we offer flexible training packages to ensure you receive a plan that matches your unique requirements.

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Start your compliance e-learning journey with a free trial

With this no-obligation free trial you'll have access to our libraries and compliance platform. 

Ready to start? Complete the form, and a member of the Skillcast team will be in touch with further details on how your trial works, what's included, and more. 

Feefo Customer Rating  ★★★★★ 4.9/5

Common data protection and GDPR course questions

Data Protection (GDPR)

Where can I track incidents involving personal data?

Tools such as a Data Breach Register enable you to log, track, and respond to data breaches and similar incidents efficiently. Skillcast offers this tool, making it easy to document and manage incidents in line with compliance requirements.

How can I ensure that employees formally attest to our internal Data Protection Policy?

Our Policy Hub tool allows you to easily assign policies, track when employees read them, and capture their attestation with a simple digital acknowledgement. The tool also provides automated reminders to employees who haven't yet acknowledged the policy, ensuring full compliance and a clear audit trail.

What makes a password secure?

A secure password is long (ideally 12+ characters), contains a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, and avoids obvious choices like names, birthdays, or simple sequences.

What is a passphrase, and is it better than a password?

A passphrase is a string of unrelated words (e.g., "BlueMonkeySkyLadder!") that's easier to remember but harder to crack. It’s often more secure and user-friendly than traditional complex passwords.

How can organisations help staff manage secure passwords?

Encourage the use of password managers, provide cybersecurity training, and implement policies that support strong, unique password creation.

What exactly must be included in a DSAR response under GDPR?

Under Article 15 of the GDPR, a controller must provide confirmation of processing, access to the personal data, and supplemental information such as:
  • Purposes of processing
  • Types of personal data involved
  • Recipients of data (including third countries)
  • Retention period or criteria
  • Data source (if not collected directly)
  • Rights to rectification, erasure, restriction, or to object
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
  • Automated decision-making logic and consequences
Plus, where relevant, safeguards for international transfers.

Can I ask for identification before fulfilling a DSAR?

Yes. Controllers should apply reasonable identity verification measures to ensure that they don't disclose data to the wrong person. However, it is important not to request excessive or unnecessary documentation, especially formal ID, if other reasonable methods (such as email verification or an identity-proofing platform) are available.

How is the one-month response deadline calculated precisely?

GDPR mandates response "without undue delay" and within one month from receipt of the request, or from receipt of necessary information to verify identity or a valid fee. That deadline runs to the same calendar date the following month; if that date doesn't exist (e.g., from 31 January), the deadline is the last day of the next month. If it falls on a weekend or holiday, the next working day applies.

When and how can the response deadline be extended?

A controller can extend the deadline by up to two months if the request is complex or the data subject has submitted multiple rights requests simultaneously (e.g., access, erasure, portability). However, the extension must be issued within the initial one-month period, providing reasons for the delay.

How is data privacy different from data security?

They’re closely related but differ: data privacy is all about how personal info is collected, used and shared, centring on policies, consent and ethical handling, whereas data security focuses on protecting information using technical measures.

Who is responsible for data privacy in compliance training?

Your organisation (the data controller), even if training is delivered through a third-party vendor (data processor) such as Skillcast.

What is multi-factor authentication?

Multi-factor authentication is a security protocol that requires two or more steps of verification when attempting to gain access to an account/system. The first is typically a username/email combination and the second can be one-time passcodes, biometrics, verification codes through email or text, authentication apps or FIDO2. It’s more secure than relying on passwords alone because it requires a device or biometrics, which cybercriminals don't typically have access to.

What is the difference between MFA and 2FA?

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a type of multi-factor authentication that uses a two-stage verification process. For example, you may be required to login using your password and username, and then a one-time passcode, which is sent through your email. MFA can include two, three or more factors of verification but the government recommends using the authentication method that is best suited to the specific needs and risks of what is being protected.

How to log in with MFA?

With Skillcast, once you've entered your username and password, you will be presented with a one-time passcode screen. Click 'Get OTP' and you will be sent a code to your registered email address. The code is time-limited, so enter it into the screen quickly and then click 'Validate OTP' to sign in.