Nearly a quarter of UK businesses have already cancelled their preparations for achieving compliance with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), believing that the laws will no longer apply to them as a result of Brexit.
That is the worrying conclusion of a survey of British businesses by information management company Crown Records Management.
Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that nearly half (44%) of UK businesses do not believe GDPR will apply to UK companies once the UK formally exits the EU.
The Government triggered Article 50 last week, beginning a two-year process of withdrawal from the trading bloc. But it has already confirmed that GDPR will not be included in the Great Repeal Bill, which will see some EU laws abandoned.
In a statement, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it had not heard of any companies which have stopped preparing for GDPR, although why any business would tell the regulator is not known.
An ICO spokesman said: “We do recognise there’s a long way to go for organisations to be ready for GDPR. We are committed to helping organisations prepare and have a dedicated data protection reform website, which contains lots of advice and will be updated regularly.”
Last week, it was revealed that nearly half of all companies are still struggling to get in shape for existing laws, let alone the biggest shake up of data legislation in a generation coming in May next year.
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