The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has found that only a small fraction of small businesses are ready for the impending General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) deadline.
Only 8% of small businesses have completed their preparations ahead of the 25 May deadline, while a third are in the early stages of preparation. Most concerning is the third (33%) of small businesses that have not yet started preparing for the introduction of GDPR.
In light of the findings, the FSB is launching a GDPR awareness raising campaign, dubbed ‘BeDataReady’.
“FSB is in a unique position to reach small businesses and so we’re going to step up efforts to help and support them get data ready, while continuing to make sure the Government implements the regulation in the fairest way for small firms," explained Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman.
“The GDPR is the biggest shake-up in data protection to date and many small businesses will be concerned that the changes will be too much to handle. It’s clear that a large part of the small business community is still unaware of the steps that they need to take to comply and may be left playing catch-up.”
The FSB campaign has been welcomed by UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham: “Research suggests the SME sector is less prepared than others for the changes. We know that many small businesses are keen to get it right, but with so much misinformation out there it’s difficult for them to know what’s right and what’s not. It is therefore very welcome that FSB is running this campaign.”
There's more info on the FSB site, including an explanatory video: https://www.fsb.org.uk/resources/are-you-gdpr-ready
