Ninety three per cent of companies are worried about the storage of their data in the cloud after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and 91 per cent are concerned about how the new rules will affect cloud services, according to new research from cloud solutions provider Calligo.
In a survey of 500 IT decision-makers in companies with more than 100 employees and £15 million in turnover, Calligo examined how businesses are preparing for the new regulation, which comes into force next May.
Despite the severe penalties for infringing the GDPR, only 14 per cent said that worries about meeting their obligations under the new privacy laws, and wide-ranging new rules for handling and storing data, are uppermost on their minds.
Security and breaches are the largest area of concern, selected by 41 per cent of respondents. In relation to cloud services, 46 per cent are concerned about the GDPR’s complexity, yet just 15 per cent highlighted privacy.
“While our research shows that companies are rightly concerned about how the GDPR will affect the cloud, it is apparent that many are not helping themselves,” said Julian Box, CEO at Calligo. “Although 89 per cent claim to be very or quite clear about how GDPR will affect their organisation, they don’t seem to be giving due weight to meeting these new privacy obligations.
“Of course, security is a huge concern, but it is only one part of the GDPR jigsaw that all organisations storing personal data of EU citizens have to have in place before the enforcement deadline of 25 May next year. There is little point putting a ring of steel around data you shouldn’t have.”
More than half of respondents (52 per cent) said the GDPR will not affect how they use cloud services, ranging from 40 per cent in the legal sector to 100 per cent in education.
Less than half (49 per cent) of respondents said continuing doubts about the Privacy Shield (allowing EU citizens’ data to be held in the US in compliance with EU law) would affect their use of hyperscale cloud.
Only 26 per cent said they choose a cloud provider because they are confident about its GDPR effectiveness, whereas 41 per cent make their choice based on scalability.
In other findings, the research also revealed the average amount organisations were willing to spend on preparing for GDPR – £1.67 million.
• A Calligo whitepaper on the GDPR can be found here