Awareness of the GDPR Introduction

A total of 74 people clicked through to our second Game Changer survey on the subject of the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Fortunately, by far the majority of our respondents knew what GDPR stood for, although a significant minority did not – or perhaps they were enjoying the humour of the first question in the survey:

Q1. Which of these does GDPR stand for?

Awareness

There was strong awareness of some of the key requirements expected from the introduction of the GDPR, in particular the requirement for clear procedures to evidence compliance and to deal with any complaints that may be received. There are a few misconceptions however.

For example, although there has to be appropriate company policies in place that all staff are familiar with, there is no specific requirement to appoint a data protection officer. Also, it is not necessary to obtain permissions twice although it will almost ceratainly be a requirement in most EU countries. However, there is no real expectation that it will cost more to register with the ICO nor can most businesses expect heavy fines for non-compliance provided it is not a systematic abuse. Finally, and perhaps surprisingly, a 13 year old is considered old enough to provide any bona fide business with their personal data!

Q2.   Please indicate how true you believe the following statements about GDPR to be:

Respondent Interest:

We were fortunate in having respondents who represented wide range of interests in respect of their marketing needs, with new product development, exporting and the search for additional customers representing the main significant requirements. However, almost half of our respondents were represented either start up businesses or were just looking for new marketing ideas.

Q3. Which of the following best describes your business situation? (please tick the response that most applies to you):

Target Market

75% of our respondents represent B2B operations, although one third of these also market to consumers. Just 25% are concerned with sales to consumers only.

4. Which types of customer is your product/service aimed at?

Business Needs

It is always of interest for us to understand which of our various services has most appeal and the traditional prospect list continues to top the list, however more customers are seeking assistance with their web-site than previously and, similarly, interest in market research has increased.

5. Which of the following services would benefit your business?

Footnote. Be assured that if you provided your contact details for the prize draw only then we will not contact you for any other purpose!