editor’s question
KARL LANKFORD,
DIRECTOR,
SOLUTIONS
ENGINEERING,
BEYONDTRUST
O
ne year on, GDPR
still presents
challenges for
organisations
as many are
still not truly in
compliance. A lot
of companies continue to have problems
due to the ever-increasing volume
of data, which makes it increasingly
challenging for businesses to get a
complete view of where all data resides
and who has access to it.
This can be compounded with an
increase in outsourcing, merger
and acquisition activity taking place
frequently across sectors, creating
increased uncertainty around data
ownership in the new entities.
As such, organisations are in this unique,
unenviable position where there is an
ever-increasing volume of data, coupled
with increasingly empowered consumers
that understand why their data needs
to be protected, resulting in amplified
30
pressure to demonstrate compliance. Not
only this, but the reputation and revenue
of businesses is now on the line if they
haven’t committed to a requisite long-
term compliance strategy.
Due to this, businesses can’t rest and
have to act quick in demonstrating
compliance. Google being fined
€50m for failing to provide users
with transparent and understandable
information on its data use policies is
testament to this. While such a fine isn’t
necessarily a huge amount of money
for a company of Google’s size, it’s still
significant and serves as a clear warning
to other organisations.
The impact of fines to high-profile
businesses has brought GDPR into
the limelight, massively increasing its
awareness and understanding, not
just among businesses but among
consumers too.
The ICO published figures for Q2 of
2018/19. There was a total of 4,056 data
security incident reports in this period vs
687 for the same period in Q2 2017/18.
This increase is representative of a new,
cautionary approach that makes it less
likely for a breach to slip through the net.
Despite challenges in achieving
compliance, GDPR is working and there
are rewards to be reaped. Businesses
that can demonstrate full transparency of
consumers’ data and ensure its security
over the past year, becomes a huge
competitive advantage.
As younger data-savvy generations
become consumers of these products,
such transparency demonstrated by
companies will become ever-more
important to them, influencing their
loyalty and buying decisions. u
As younger data-
savvy generations
become consumers
of these products,
such transparency
demonstrated by
companies will
become ever-more
important to them,
influencing their
loyalty and buying
decisions.
Issue 13
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