Half of UK consumers don’t believe commercial organisations care about their privacy, and many are prepared to take legal action against businesses that don’t comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At the same time, businesses are concerned the new data privacy regulations will have a negative impact on their operations and international relations.

So says the latest study on GDPR preparedness, which is based on research by Censuswide and which captures the perceptions of consumers and businesses on the preparedness levels of organisations in Europe and the United States for the May 2018 GDPR compliance deadline, as well as the new regulation’s business impact.

Half of UK consumers (50%) claimed not to trust anyone with protecting their personal information, and a similar number (49%) expressed a belief that businesses didn’t care about their digital privacy.

“As a result of recent and ongoing data breaches, digital privacy remains top of mind for consumers. With the deadline for enforcement of the GDPR fast approaching, law firms and compensation companies will begin to focus their efforts on fighting for consumer rights, and organisations could find themselves facing multiple legal challenges in addition to the hefty fines levied by the regulation, some of which will achieve national media attention,” Jim DeLorenzo, solutions manager, GDPR, Thales eSecurity. “The GDPR is a change of legislation that well and truly puts the onus on organisations to get their houses in order, and the clock is ticking…”

While understandably a hot topic among businesses across the EU, the research revealed that more than a third (37%) of UK consumers had heard of the GDPR and that almost two thirds (57%) of these could explain it to some degree. Perhaps as a result of recent high-profile breaches, only one in five (20%) of UK consumers claimed to trust financial institutions with their information, while just 23% said they trusted healthcare providers.

Share Story: