UK companies that have not yet begun preparations for GDPR compliance will soon find that they have little time to implement compliant measures before the legislation becomes active.
Most completed studies show that the majority of the United Kingdom’s companies are at risk of being hit with substantial financial losses in financial penalties. There is still time to rectify this of course. Roughly eight months remain for companies to get ready for the new regulations. Companies use this period to align their processes with the requirements of GDPR to prevent non-compliant consequences after the May 2018 introduction date.
The real estate and construction sector in the United Kingdom is not ready for GDPR according to Collyer Bristow’s report. This shows that the construction and real estate industry lacks understanding of the new law and consequently is inhibited in preparations. With just eight months to the compliance deadline, 35% of real estate and construction businesses do not comprehend GDPR. At present, the financial sector appears to be the most prepared for the incoming data protection legislation with only 14% unaware of the new law. This proportion compares to a figure of 27% across all business sectors in the UK.
The report also indicates that 35% of the real estate and construction industry is yet to begin any process to guide their businesses in adhering with the new law. This percentage is still high when measured against the 20% figures for all business in the UK. In every indicator, the financial sector is the best performer in compliance readiness. Just 15% of financial sector has not started their preparations. The financial sector, according to the the report, looks set to satisfy all the requirements when the law becomes effective. Their determination to making their processes compliant with the regulation’s requirements could be due to the sensitivity associated with the sector. Due to this, they cannot have any discrepancies.
Real estate and construction companies have failed in almost every aspect of the new legislation. The Collyer Bristow’s report shows that 28% of this sector lacks data breach contingency measures. This figure is 5% higher than that seen in other sectors. The research showed that 18% of all businesses in the country fell the penalty of up to €20 million or 4% of global revenue will heighten the danger of insolvency. This finding implies that many real estate companies may not be able to meet their financial requirements because their evident lack of preparations increases their chances of being hit with financial penalties..
Over half (57%) of senior management do not have involvement in matters related to data protection according to the results. 34% of them do not plan to put in place data risk assessment between now and May 25 2018. This neglect in relation to preparations is potentially disastrous and will definitely have negative impacts on their final preparations. This is particularly true given the several alterations brought in by the new legislation which must be satisfied. Consideration should be given to the fact that risk assessment is vital for the introduction of technical and organizational procedures, and for the deployment of major IT systems and technologies.