Despite GDPR legislation coming into effect over four months ago, a recent survey shows the majority of UK retail businesses are now risking penalties by failing to adhere to some of the rules. The survey did not cover wholesalers, but researchers believe the situation could be just as bad there too.
the memory of redundant IT equipment before disposal
According to a poll of 1,002 UK workers in full or part-time employment, carried out by Probrand.co.uk, the majority (57%) of businesses in the retail industry failed to wipe the data from IT equipment they disposed of in the two months following GDPR.
According to the data, the only industries more guilty of not clearing the memory of IT equipment before disposal in the months following GDPR were transportation (72%), sales and marketing (62%), manufacturing (59%) and utilities (58%).
Matt Royle, Marketing Director at Probrand.co.uk commented: “The fines involved in a GDPR breach can potentially run into the millions – and what appear to be less tangible impactors, like reputational damage, customer trust and loyalty, will ultimately become financially significant. Given these findings, it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure that businesses of all kinds have a disposal procedure in place to avoid inadvertently leaking sensitive data.”
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