Explore our Digital Marketing Strategy and Planning Toolkit

The US is going to be GDPR compliant before the EU

Author's avatar By Kim Greenop-Gadsby 19 Jan, 2018
Essential Essential topic

Chart of the Day: What are the biggest barriers to GDPR compliance? Part 2 of 2

What happened last time?

Like mentioned in part one of this series, 'Death, Taxes and GDPR', we looked if companies are going to be compliant by 25th May 2018 when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in all 28 countries in Europe. We are now going to look into what is actually stopping companies from meeting the deadline.

The majority are struggling

We understand that most are struggling with meeting the deadline. But what is it that they are struggling with? The chart below displays the recent research by the IAPP and TrustArc, who surveyed nearly 500 privacy professionals in the US and EU. The first barrier hindering the US is the complexity of the law (38%), while a quarter (25%) of companies surveyed the EU have an inadequate budget. The second reason for the US is lack of qualified staff (20%), while 24% of the EU are struggling with the complexity of the law.

Struggling?

Final thoughts

So, America seems to be just beating the EU. It's never nice coming second, especially when it's your race. Like the kids say these days, "awks". Fear not, my little European email geeks. A lack of budget is a good reason, but when the regulation comes round, the fines are going to be higher than any investment would cost now. You don't need to spend a fortune, visit your countries regulator (for the UK visit the ICO), read their recommendations, plus some have even set up helplines. Don't ignore it, because it's not going away. ACT NOW!

Biggest Barriers to GDPR Compliance

Author's avatar

By Kim Greenop-Gadsby

I get very excited about all things email because I'm just a #EmailGeekUK. I was born and bred in South Africa and have over 16 years experience in web development and digital marketing. When I'm not being an email geek, I spend my time with my husband, two sons and our menagerie of pets.

This blog post has been tagged with:

Implications of the GDPR for marketing in UK and Europe

Recommended Blog Posts