Ok, we’re pretty sure you’re not throwing a big party in celebration of GDPR’s anniversary, however, perhaps you should! After all, there are multiple benefits to GDPR. 

Last year companies in Europe and around the world worked hard to implement GDPR in their operations. This meant organisations needed to start thinking about how they collect and store data from their customers and/or subscribers.

Members of the general public will always value their privacy and, after 6 months of GDPR, according to Deloitte‘s findings, a perceptual change had taken place in consumer‘s minds. 44% of respondents believed that organisations cared more about their customer‘s privacy than before.

It gets better

Customer data and privacy are not the only things GDPR will help organisations with in the long rung. GDPR compliance requires organisations to offer cyber security training to their employees. The overall effect of this regulation will not only help them keep their customers‘ data safe but also their own data and their staff‘s.

News of major data breaches have been getting significant amount of coverage in the news over the past few year. Big multinational companies have lost large amounts of consumer data. 17% of Deloitte‘s survey respondents said they would stop using a service or buying from an organisation if they were subject to a data breach. A further 35% said they would make a decision on whether to stay or go based on how well they trust the organisation. A solid reputation clearly goes a long way. 

Having a history of a data breach would raise concerns for 70% of respondents and negatively impacted their level of trust. Consumers in general are obviously well aware of their rights and they do take a company’s reputation into consideration. 

Having a strong security culture in place will minimize the risk of a breach and also give employees clear guidelines on how to react should a breach occur. This can make all the difference between how consumers perceive the organisation and if they want to put their trust in it or not.

Article 39b of GDPR

If organisations adhere to article 39b of GDPR it means they will be training their employees in cyber security awareness. Those who take this part of the compliance seriously can reduce their risk of a data breach significantly. They also reduce the risk of damaging their reputation, loosing the trust of their customers and the risk of being subject to fines or class action law suits. Cyber security awareness training is not just a luxury reserved for big organisations. Companies with less than 1000 employees are at the greatest risk. Furthermore, according to TechJury, 43% of all cyber attacks seem to be aimed at small companies. 

Human error is the way in for 9 out of 10  successful data breaches, ransomware attacks and other types of cyber crimes. When employees are well trained in cyber security awareness they are less likely to fall for cyber criminals’ schemes, such as phishing. That is how cyber security training can turn employees from a risk to becoming the organisation’s biggest cyber security defense force.

How have people and organisations responded to GDPR this past year?

• Over 144,000 queries and complaints were sent to Data Protection Authorities in Europe. A significant increase compared to 2017. (EDPB)
• 89,271 Data breach notifications were sent to DPA’s.
• UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport reported a reduction in the percentage of businesses suffering a cyber-breach or attacks. (IntelligentCISO)
• 70% of organisations saw an increase in staff focused on GDPR compliance. (Deloitte)
• 65% of organisations felt they had sufficient resources to sustain GDPR.
• 87% of organisations now have a Data Protection Officer. (DPO)
• Well over 70% of consumers are aware of their key rights regarding personal data.
• The right to erasure had been used by 12% of consumers.
• 20% of consumers said they had used their right to opt out of direct marketing
• 60% of consumers are willing to share more data to receive personalised benefits and discounts.

How to celebrate GDPR’s anniversary?

How about giving your employees and/or co-workers a free GDPR training, courtesy of AwareGO?

We are celebrating 1 year of GDPR with a free trial which includes 3 training videos focusing on data safety.

You can sign up for free and start the training within minutes. Our LMS platform is that easy!