A new study suggests that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still confused about the upcoming General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).<\/p>\n
The GDPR will be become law for all European Union (EU) member states \u2013 including the UK \u2013 from May 2018.<\/p>\n
The new legislation will effectively replace the outstanding UK Data Protection Act, and will have far-reaching implications for businesses in terms of the ways in which they collect, use and store data.<\/p>\n
It will also bring with it new and extended rights for individuals.<\/p>\n
Despite this, a new survey of more than 900 UK SMEs suggests that many are not sure what \u2018personal data\u2019 or \u2018extended rights\u2019 actually mean under the GDPR.<\/p>\n
In fact, 19 per cent of SMEs told the survey \u2013 which was carried out by Close Brothers \u2013 that they did not clearly understand the concept of \u2018personal data\u2019, while a further 50 per cent said that they only \u2018sort of\u2019 understood it.<\/p>\n
Similarly, less than half (48 per cent) of SMEs said that they clearly understood the new and extended rights that the GDPR will bring for individuals.<\/p>\n
The worrying results of the survey highlight the importance of SMEs seeking specialist advice to ensure that they are prepared for the GDPR and fully compliant by May 2018.<\/p>\n
This is particularly important, as penalties for non-compliance with the GDPR are frighteningly high \u2013 and firms can potentially be fined up to four per cent of their global turnover or \u20ac20 million (\u00a317.7 million), whichever is higher, for serious data breaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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