A survey of 1,002 UK workers in full or part-time employment has shown that many UK Businesses are risking penalties by failing to adhere to GDPR legislation.
Technology services provider Probrand, has revealed that an incredible 64% of people admitted to having forwarded a customer email to their personal email account in the four months after the introduction of GDPR.
Given that earlier research from the company found that more than half (55%) of all UK based businesses were breaching GDPR laws by not having an official process or protocol for disposing of obsolete IT equipment, this news is perhaps less surprising.
More concerning however, is the the news that, according to the data, 84% of the workers who admitted to forwarding customer emails to their personal accounts didn’t feel they were doing anything wrong (as there was no deliberate attempt to break the rules) despite the fact that this would likely be deemed irrelevant if it came to a legal judgement over whether there had been a breach of GDPR laws.
Matt Royle, marketing director at Probrand commented:
“What may seem like an innocent and even helpful action of workers trying to catch up on work out of hours is actually a clear breach of GDPR laws.”
“This is because the worker in question will have unwittingly forwarded sensitive personal customer information and/or their own employer’s Intellectual Property to a third party outside of the corporate network.
“Of course, in the vast majority of cases this will have been done with the best intentions, with the employee simply planning to pick up their work at home – but given the amount of publicity around GDPR it is perhaps surprising that more workers (and employers) are not aware of the basics of what is required for GDPR compliance.
Royle went on to add: “…it is clear from these findings that businesses need to do more to educate their employees on the laws surrounding GDPR and data protection. Seemingly innocent actions could have substantial repercussions. A GDPR breach can result in fines that potentially run into the millions – this financial impact along with the knock-on effects this can have for businesses, including reputational damage, the loss of customer loyalty and trust, can be hugely damaging for companies in the long term.”
About Probrand
A Top 100 UK VAR with 25-years’ heritage, Probrand provides IT products, cloud services, managed IT services and IT solutions. Focused on taking the hassle out of IT procurement, Probrand has put digital at the heart of its business. Its CIPS accredited online marketplace openly connects 40,000 registered IT buyers with 2,500 brands and vendors. Users can access additional support from dedicated sector and technical specialists in an environment personalised to them. The business has more than 15-years’ experience delivering award winning managed IT services and over 1,000 IT solutions annually to private and public sector organisations.
