Global businesses are having difficulty keeping up with the deluge of new data privacy regulations taking effect around the globe. Nearly one in two organisations (47 per cent) are lagging behind despite businesses spending around $1.5 million globally on data protection issues for employees, software, hardware, third parties and other costs. The survey reveals that 38 per cent of all organisations globally have also had to deal with an enforcement action. The research was carried out over nine countries - the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong by Thompson Reuters.

Data privacy

One of the factors impacting is the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018 for organisations conducting business in the European Union. The research revealed GDPR compliance is already taking up thirty-one per cent of the average data privacy budget. 'Data privacy and protection regulations are growing globally every day,' said Chris Maguire, managing director of Corporate, Thomson Reuters. He added that the number and complexity of regulations was adding 'new responsibilities and costs that can grow exponentially when doing business on a global scale.'