GDPR is changing consumer trust and data security across Europe
According to the results of a new survey, 74 percent of organizations say that since GDPR was introduced in 2018 it has had a beneficial impact on consumer trust, and 73 percent claim it has boosted their data security.
The study from Check Point questioned 1,000 CTOs, CIOs, IT and security managers from organizations in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It shows that GDPR is delivering a strong positive effect overall for European businesses.
Significant progress has been made across Europe towards GDPR compliance. 53 percent of respondents say their organization has set up a GDPR working group, another 45 percent have allocated budget to cover the costs of implementing GDPR, while 41 percent have employed GDPR consultants.
From an IT perspective, the most common steps taken to meet the security requirements imposed by GDPR are, adopting standard security measures (44 percent), initiating training for employees to increase understanding of data security risks (41 percent), and implementing an access and encryption control system (41 percent).
Overall, 83 percent of those polled say their organization uses cloud solutions. But many are more cautious about how the cloud is employed following GDPR’s introduction. Just seven percent of companies have taken the drastic measure of ceasing to use cloud solutions altogether as a result of GDPR.
The three most-anticipated long-term benefits of GDPR are found to be, helping organizations demonstrate their focus on customers’ data and increasing loyalty (45 percent), making operations more efficient, especially regarding cybersecurity (44 percent), and providing a more comprehensive view on the information processed by the company (40 percent).
“What’s clear from this research is…