GDPR at one1 min read

More than a year after the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), almost a third of European businesses are still not compliant with the new regulation. However, there are encouraging signs of increased maturity in data protection, with GDPR stimulating better security practices.

In a new poll conducted by the European Business Awards on behalf of audit, tax and consulting firm RSM, just 57% of respondents were confident their businesses comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules. A further 13% were unsure.

A separate survey by data virtualisation platform Delphix found that some UK companies were leading their CEO to believe they are compliant with GDPR, when in fact they have significant amounts of unprotected personal data in test environments. This was revealed when Delphix spoke to 50 data custodians about the challenge of balancing access to data with data security.

A key finding that emerged was that many businesses were either unaware or unconcerned by the non-compliance of data used to test systems under development.

Struggling to understand GDPR

The RSM survey found that mid-market businesses are struggling to understand and implement several areas covered by GDPR. More than a third (38%) of non-compliant businesses do not understand when consent is required to hold and process data and 35% are unsure how they should monitor their employees’ use of personal data. Another third (34%) do not understand what procedures are required to ensure third-party supplier contracts are compliant.

More positively, the RSM survey showed that GDPR is starting to have a positive impact on cyber security within the EU.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of European businesses said GDPR has encouraged them to improve the way they manage customer data, while 62% said it has seen them increase their investment in cyber security.

For more information, take a look at the Computer Weekly article.