Businesses are being urged to get ready for a change in data protection laws.

Yesterday was GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) awareness day, ahead of new EU rules that are due to come into force on May 25th.

The new regulation will mean that companies will need to ensure they are protecting data and our rights.

Newstalk's Tech Correspondent Jess Kelly says it will also make our day-to-day lives' easier.

She explained: "We'll have the right to ask any organisation what information they have about us - that's anything from Facebook and Twitter, to the clothes shop that offers to email you a receipt.

"Also, companies won't be able to randomly sign you up for a newsletter."

She added: "Some of this information that you've put out there - whether it is an old CV, or your marital status, or whatever it may be - that may still be on file but massively outdated. We'll have the right to get this information corrected."

Jess warned that businesses found not to be in complaint with GDPR could face hefty fines.

She explained: "The breach could be anything from failing to respond to a consumer query correctly, or sending a consumer database out accidentally as an email attachment."

Facebook, meanwhile, has announced that it is launching educational videos in users' News Feeds to address privacy-related issues.

The company has also shared its privacy principles for the first time - highlighting its approach to safeguarding user data.

The social network says: "You own the information you share on Facebook. This means you decide what you share and who you share it with on Facebook, and you can change your mind.

"That’s why we give you tools for deleting anything you’ve posted. We remove it from your timeline and from our servers. You can also delete your account whenever you want."