Consumers looking to exercise rights under GDPR
25 January 2018
Among the seven EU countries surveyed (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and The Netherlands), the top three nationalities most likely to use their GDPR rights are Italy, Spain and France. UK residents were the least likely to act on GDPR, however at 74 percent, this still represents a significant majority of the country.
Global Newswire has reported on a new global study released by Pegasystems Inc. where more than 7,000 consumers in seven EU countries were surveyed to help businesses anticipate how frequently their customers plan to use their newfound rights come 25 May 2018, when the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force.
The research shows that while awareness of GDPR itself is low today, consumers are overwhelmingly interested in querying companies that hold their personal information. For example, 90 percent want direct control over how companies use their data, while 89 percent want to see the data companies store on them.
However, only 21 percent know what GDPR is or what it will enable them to do, indicating that widespread consumer action may be delayed until more awareness of these rights reaches the mainstream.
Among the many new rights that GDPR will grant consumers, they view the ‘right to access’ as the most critical. According to the survey, nearly half (47 percent) identified the ability to simply see the data companies possess on them as the most important right. The top three new GDPR empowerments in the minds of consumers are:
- The ability to be informed about what personal data companies hold on them (47 percent selected as most important)
- The ability to demand companies erase their personal data (22 percent)
- Visibility into knowing when their personal data is used to make automated decisions (9 percent)
The survey reveals several other trends for businesses to watch as GDPR moves closer to enactment – you can read more from Global Newswire where there is also a link to download the complete GDPR research data.
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CIPP comment The CIPP run a half day training course which will help delegates understand and prepare for the changes under GDPR, including how they affect payroll and HR functions, so that they can help their organisations become fully compliant by May 2018. |