Majority of businesses concerned by new EU data protection regulations, study reveals
A global study has revealed that 86% of organisations are concerned that recent EU data protection regulations could have a major negative impact on their business.
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect on May 25, 2018, is designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe and requires businesses to be able to provide individuals with a copy of their data or delete it, within a 30-day time frame.
If companies fail to comply with the regulation, they can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover, or €20m.
Nearly 20% of companies surveyed by information management firm Veritas Technologies said they fear that non-compliance could put them out of business.
The Veritas 2017 GDPR Report also indicated that 47% of organisations globally have major doubts that they will meet this impending compliance deadline.
The research, which surveyed more than 900 senior business decision-makers in 2017 across Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific, also found that 21% are very worried about potential layoffs, fearing that staff reductions may be an inevitable outcome as a result of financial penalties incurred as a result of GDPR compliance failures.
Some 19% of those surveyed fear that negative media or social coverage could cause their organisation to lose customers if and when a compliance failure is made public.
Almost one third (32%) of respondents are fearful their current technology stack is unable to manage their data effectively, something that could hinder their ability to search, discover and review data--all essential criteria for GDPR compliance.
In addition, 39% of respondents say their organisation cannot accurately identify and locate relevant data.
Some 42% of organisations admitted that there is no mechanism in place to determine which data should be saved or deleted based on its value.
"There is just over a year to go before GDPR comes into force, yet the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality still exists in organisations around the world," said Mike Palmer, executive vice president and chief product officer at Veritas.
“It doesn't matter if you're based in the EU or not, if your organisation does business in the region, the regulation applies to you.
“A sensible next step would be to seek an advisory service that can check the level of readiness and build a strategy that ensures compliance. A failure to react now puts jobs, brand reputation and the livelihood of businesses in jeopardy."
