Following up on the GDPR

Since the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into effect on May 25, it seems like you can’t visit any website without an updated Privacy Policy (including our own), compliance warning pop-ups or data privacy tips. After all, organizations are just trying to be safe now than sorry later (the possibility of being fined 4% of annual turnover is enough to make any business-owner tense).

We spoke about the importance of the GDPR and what to expect in the months to come in our last blog. In this post, we’ll take a look at how organizations are dealing with the changes since then, and how businesses have been keeping busy during this crucial time.

GDPR: Business updates 

The GDPR will be an on-going learning process for SMEs. There has however been a significant improvement since February when the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) revealed that 90% of small firms were not prepared for GDPR.

Apart from SME’s, the GDPR had an affect on industry tycoons as well. According to Facebook, the company lost about 1 million monthly active users in 2018 (wiping over $130 billion off its market value). In the first quarter of 2018, Facebook had 377 million monthly active users in Europe, whereas in the second quarter the number decreased to 376 million. Critics are linking this drop in users to the GDPR and Facebook’s inadequate data policies.

Good news is that, almost two months after the launch of the GDPR, three-quarters of US and European companies say they will be compliant by the end of the year!

GDPR facts at a glance

• According to a recent survey conducted by the AIIM community, the average GDPR budget in the UK is a whopping $3.5M Euros. This steep number just goes to show the vast impact GDPR has on every business, and that the cost of non-compliance is much, much steeper.
• Since the GDPR came into effect this May, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has reported a rise in breach notifications from organizations, as well as more data protection complaints following the activation of the law. There were 1,792 self-reported incidents in June – the first full month after the law came into effect – compared with 398 in March, 367 in April and 657 in May.
• A recent TrustArc Survey found that compliance efforts are “motivated more by a desire to meet customer and partner expectations than by fear of fines or lawsuits.”

Still struggling?

After our speaking sessions, research and general interest on the subject, we are self-proclaimed experts on data privacy and the updated GDPR policy. If you want to chat or hone your business practices to stay GDPR-compliant, we’re happy to help.