The General Data Protection Regulation will take effect on May 25th, and according to a study done by Ensighten, many businesses just aren’t ready. In the study, they found that 45% of UK businesses are planning to be fined due to failure to comply with the new regulations.
In addition, 61% of businesses surveyed for the study said that they would apply for an extension on the deadline if they had that option. This is not because companies aren’t doing anything, but just that it is quite a large task to become fully compliant. 7% of businesses have, however, said that they have not implemented any changes related to GDPR compliance yet.
Only 26% of UK marketers have said that they are ‘very confident’ that the changes they have made will be considered sufficient. This is quite a low number considering all the attention that this set of regulations have gotten, and how serious it is being taken by UK regulators.
The Chief Revenue Officer at Ensighten, Ian Woolley, said, “Educating consumers on how their personal data is used and why their permission is needed is essential to building consumer trust and gaining their opt-in consent. GDPR is not just a legal hurdle to jump. Whilst brands are putting money aside for fines, they should not underestimate the damage to their reputation and business from not educating customers now.”
While these rules are specifically related the UK, other countries, including the US, are expected to pass regulations that will be at least somewhat similar to the GDPR at some point in the coming months or years.
