Over one third of UK businesses confess to not being GDPR compliant - report

Businesses also admit to holding data without permission of subjects

Over one third of businesses in the UK have admitted to not being compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to a survey conducted by Marketing Signals.

The marketing firm claims its research found that 37 per cent of UK businesses admit to not being compliant with the new regulations, while 35 per cent said they are still sending marketing emails without expressed consent from the recipient.

Gareth Hoyle, managing director at Marketing Signals, said: "The research shows there are many ways that businesses are admitting to not following the newly enforced GDPR.

"GDPR is the most fundamental change to ever happen to data privacy, so it is imperative that businesses follow this and complete the process as soon as possible.

"Businesses need to understand that acting responsibly and ethically with customer data is crucial to protect and enhance brand reputation and ensure customer trust. Not only this, but it will enhance the quality of data collected, which is a good thing for UK businesses."

The research also found that 31 per cent of respondents admitted holding the data of subjects who have not opted in to their data being stored.

Meanwhile, 25 per cent of businesses admitted not having adequate cybersecurity protection in place in the event of a ransomware attack.

The figures were compiled from a survey of 1,021 UK businesses.