FEATURE


By Joe


GDPR compliance ‘skin-deep’ on first anniversary SME research shows


New Shred-it survey of over 1400 UK SMEs reflects positive understanding and embracement of GDPR but highlights key areas of concern under the surface


A recent survey commissioned by Shred-it, one of the UK’s leading information security companies and a Stericycle solution, has revealed a positive understanding and engagement with the principles of GDPR among SMEs on its first anniversary. The findings show that 72% of UK SMEs report being ‘very aware’ of its requirements. However, 60% reported that the recent changes to data protection have had a ‘slight’ or ‘no’ impact on their business, while 8% did not know. The figures highlight a possible cosmetic understanding of GDPR and key areas of concern around the more complex aspects of full compliance. The independent survey of 1439 SMEs was commissioned to


gather insight on attitudes to data protection. The first anniversary of GDPR is on 25th May 2019. Its survey comprised a series of unprompted questions and covered a range of businesses in specific market sectors across the United Kingdom with 85% having 10 to 49 employees. When asked about GDPR readiness nine in ten rated themselves as a ‘4’ or ‘5’ out of 5; the main actions taken were reviewing policies (45%) and emailing customers for consent (35%). These are considered to be the lighter ‘front end’ aspects of GDPR compliance according to Shred-it’s experts. The survey data showed that one third (32%) of SMEs reported that GDPR has had a ‘great’ or ‘considerable’ impact on their business. When those businesses that had experienced challenges with GDPR compliance were probed further, they cited data breaches and disclosure requirements as the main challenges, with healthcare (27%) and real estate (25%) the main industries affected with those specific areas. Small proportions also reported issues with subject access requests, again with healthcare (28%) and real estate (15%) being the main industries affected. Ian Osborne, Vice President UK & Ireland for Shred-it, states,


“On the surface it is good news. It is clear that many feel they are already compliant with GDPR having reviewed areas such as ‘consent’ activities and publishing a privacy notice. These typically deal with the ‘front end’ aspects of GDPR. However, while many say they are ready, there is a real question mark over the extent to which the majority of SMEs are prepared to


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respond to a data breach or how to react to a subject access request, for example. Our survey suggests that there is still a need for a large education exercise to show SMEs what is really involved in GDPR compliance at depth.” Of the 10% that said they were ‘not quite’ or ‘not at all’


ready, who rated themselves as a ‘1’ to ‘3’ out of 5, 42% (54 businesses) said they have not been dealing with it; when asked what was holding them back, their unprompted reasons were that data protection authorities were ‘only interested in bigger companies’, it was ‘not applicable to us’, it was ‘too complicated’, and they were ‘too busy’. Of the 10%, two in five would only trust someone in-house to help them comply with GDPR – only one in ten would consider external support and only 4% would trust the data protection authority for assistance. The SMEs that would consider external support were unsure what services they needed and when they would intend to look for support. In the twelve months between 25th May 2018 and 2019


the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, has taken 59 enforcement actions. There have also been numerous examples of enforcement across different industries including high profile fines levied against large companies and penalty notices involving smaller businesses failing to pay the Data Protection Fee[i]. Ian Osborne concludes, “Our survey seems to show two


clear pictures emerging. One is where the majority of SMEs are genuinely engaged with the process of compliance; within that group there are many who believe they are already compliant but may have missed some key more complex parts of the GDPR. It is the minority in that group who have recognised its greater challenges and are wrestling with its more complex areas. The other is one where some SMEs recognise they are not ready, seem unwilling to address the issue of GDPR compliance and are reluctant to seek support in any form to help them. When the relevant authority’s fines become more common headlines across the UK, we expect that views may change about what compliance really means.”


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