Firms must brace for consumer data requests in early days of GDPR

About half of UK consumers will request their personal information from companies within the first six months of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force, over concerns about how their data is stored and protected, according to new research from Veritas.

In a survey of 3,000 respondents, Veritas found that cross-sector, 40% of consumers plan to exercise their GDPR rights to request data on them held by companies. This number rises to 56% for financial services firms, followed by social media companies at 48% and retailers at 46%.

Of those consumers that said they would exercise their data rights, 65% said they would request access to their personal data, while 71% said they would exercise their right to be forgotten under the new regulation that takes effect later this month.

Some 47% said they will request personal data or request that data is deleted under the right to be forgotten, if a company that holds their personal information suffers a data breach.

More than half of consumers surveyed (56%) said they are uncomfortable with their personal data sat on systems over which they have no control. The same percentage said they want a better understanding of the personal information companies hold on them.

Some 37% of consumers said they would seek to request information from companies because they do not trust them to protect their personal data. Just over a quarter (27%) said they will use their rights under GDPR to test whether businesses understand the value of consumer rights. A further 8% said they would exercise their right, simply to irritate a company.

Companies have just one month to respond to consumer requests for data, but consumers are not confident that companies will be able to comply. Veritas said 79% of respondents do not believe organisations will be able to find and delete all personal data held on them.

“In light of recent events surrounding the use of personal data by social media, and other, companies, consumers are taking much more of an interest in how their data is used and stored by businesses across many industry sectors,” said Mike Palmer, executive vice-president and chief product officer at Veritas.

Mr Palmer warned that companies must be ready to comply with the volume of requests from consumers. “With a flood of personal data requests coming their way in the months ahead, businesses must retain the trust of consumers by demonstrating they have comprehensive data governance strategies in place to achieve regulatory compliance.”