Most UK businesses will be ready for GDPR

Whoever gets to enforce GDPR on businesses is going to have their hands full starting May next year. According to DMA, 26 percent of marketers believe their businesses are unprepared for the General Data Protection regulation, and just two thirds (68 percent) believe they will be compliant in time for the deadline, which is May 2018.

In the second edition of DMA’s "GDPR and you" series, it says that two thirds of marketers (66 percent) have "good" awareness, up from 53 percent in June last year.

Also, the marketers’ "personal" feeling of preparedness increased significantly -- from 49 percent to 71 percent. Seven in ten (70 percent) agreed consent is the biggest concern, with half (50 percent) saying it is "legacy data," and 37 percent "profiling."

The report also states that "conducting impact assessments" is the biggest priority for businesses (42 percent), followed by "giving data subjects greater control of their data" (36 percent), and "revising your data policy" -- 31 percent.

"May 2018 should be a date that is in every marketer’s diary, giving us around 16 months before the GDPR comes into force," commented Chris Combemale, CEO of the DMA group.

"It is concerning that only half of our industry feels their businesses are prepared for the new rules and not that many more believe they will be ready in time. The finish line for GDPR readiness is fixed and the risk to businesses of not being compliant is significant. Our advice is to continue preparations in earnest over the coming year. Not making it across the line in time is not an option."

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