With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in three weeks (May 25), 40% of UK consumers claim to already planning to request personal information within the first six months of the data protection law.
A study from multi-cloud data management firm Veritas which surveyed 3,000 people, including 1,000 consumers in the UK, found that people are most likely to request personal data within the following industries: financial services (56%), social media (48%), retailers (46%), current or potential employers (24%) and healthcare providers (21%)
On those who plan to exercise their rights for consent, 65% are going to request access to the personal data the employer currently holds on them, while 77% intend to exercise their rights to be forgotten under the GDPR regulation.
Better data control
A number of drivers are known to trigger consumers to requesting personal data information under GDPR; For instance, 56% said they feel uncomfortable having
their personal information available on systems they have no control over, while the same percentage want a better understanding of how companies store personal information.
When it comes to data breaches, almost half (47%) of respondents would exercise their rights to request personal data or have it removed from the company; 37% intend to do so because they do not trust the company to protect personal data while 27% are looking to test businesses on their data protection.
Meanwhile, just 8% of respondents would exercise their data privacy rights simply to ruffle the company that they feel has mistreated them.
“In light of recent events surrounding the use of personal data by social media, and other companies, consumers are taking much more of an interest in how their data is used and stored by businesses across many industry sectors,” said Mike Palmer, executive vice president and chief product officer, Veritas.
“With a flood of personal data requests coming their way in the months ahead, businesses must retain the trust of consumers by demonstrating they have comprehensive data governance strategies in place to achieve regulatory compliance.”