'10 Minute Tip' by Carsten Holstein - GDPR for SME's - 7am until 9:30am
Carsten Holstein founded Actinum. Actinum works with SME and Start-up leaders, directors, and managers to help them understand and manage UK GDPR risk in a practical, business focused way.
Rather than legal theory, his work focuses on real world behaviour, governance, and decision making - helping small businesses reduce risk, protect trust, and stay defensible without unnecessary complexity.
Carsten work really well with:-
• SME owners, directors, and senior managers
• Professional services firms, consultants, and agencies
• Businesses with more than 10 staff
• People responsible for decisions, not just implementationThis session is especially relevant for leaders who handle, or are accountable for the handling of, customer, staff, or supplier data as part of everyday operations.
“Book a 30-minute SME GDPR Risk Sense Check.”
Attendees can book a free, no obligation session where we:
• Walk through their own data risks
• Identify the top 2–3 leadership actions that would reduce exposure fastest
• Clarify ownership and next stepsGenuine value, no pressure, and directly linked to the talk.
About the conversation:
Most GDPR problems don’t start with hackers - they start with day-to-day behaviour.
In small businesses, data risk usually comes from rushed emails, old spreadsheets, informal workarounds, and unclear ownership - not bad intent. I’ll show how these everyday habits quietly increase compliance risks under UK GDPR.
Leadership, not IT, owns most GDPR risk in SMEs.
When data has no clear owner, the risk defaults to directors and managers. I’ll explain what “reasonable and proportionate” actually means in practice for SME leaders - without legal jargon.
Early reporting matters more than perfection.
The biggest GDPR failure isn’t making the mistake itself - it’s delay, silence, or trying to fix things quietly. I’ll show that early internal reporting often turns potentially bad incidents into better near‑misses.
Three simple leadership habits prevent most problems.
Clarity, containment, and confidence. I’ll give leaders three practical habits they can apply immediately to reduce risk without slowing the business down.
This 10-minute tip helps people who are time poor and accountable understand where GDPR risk actually sits in a small organisation.
Attendees will leave knowing what they personally own, what to challenge, and what to fix first - without needing to become GDPR experts.
Hand-Outs will be provided on the day.
Carsten will bring a 1‑page printed handout titled:
“The SME GDPR Risk Map - What Leaders Actually Own”
It will include:
A one‑page risk map leaders can use immediately
A short director‑level checklist (“If asked tomorrow…”)
Carsten's contact details and a call to action
