Businesses Have Positive View Of GDPR

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is set to come into force across the EU on 25 May 2018 is being viewed as an opportunity by nearly two-thirds of businesses around the world.

This is the finding of a study by IBM, which revealed that 60 per cent of companies believe that GDPR presents an opportunity to “improve privacy, security and data management” or that they plan to use it as “a catalyst for new business models”.

As part of its Institute for Business Value study, IBM surveyed 1,500 business leaders who are responsible for GDPR compliance at their organisation. The respondents were from around the world, not just within the EU.

An overwhelming majority (84 per cent) believe that GDPR compliance will act as a positive differentiator for the public, while 76 per cent said that they think it will “enable more trusted relationships with data subjects”.

With the deadline for GDPR compliance fast approaching in Europe, 80 per cent of companies are cutting back the amount of personal data they store, while 70 per cent are getting rid of data that is no longer required.

Cindy Compert, CTO for data security and privacy at IBM Security, explained that the legislation is being introduced at a time when consumer confidence in businesses’ ability to keep their personal data secure has fallen.

“These factors together have created a perfect storm for companies to rethink their approach to data responsibility and begin to restore the trust needed in today’s data-driven economy,” she asserted.

However, a survey conducted recently by cyber security firm ThinkMarble found that 73 per cent of UK businesses are currently unaware of the lawful basis for processing data.

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