The General Data Protection Act (GDPR) comes into effect on May 25th 2018. This is a European Union wide piece of legislation with which all businesses need to comply. Failure to do so could see companies being fined up to 4% of their annual income or €20 million (whichever figure is higher). It is therefore really important that the retail industry is ready to comply and has the necessary systems in place in order to be able to do this.
However, according to research by the data cleansing specialist w8data, almost one third of retailers either do not know what GDPR is or do not feel prepared for the new legislation coming into force. As there are approximately 200,000 retailers registered in the UK, this equates to more than 66,000 being subject to the fine if they are found not to be complying with the new act.
Claranet UK, a European wide managed IT services provider, has also conducted research into whether businesses are ready to comply. They have identified one of the reasons for not being prepared is an insufficient in-house knowledge base. Claranet UK’s managing director, Michel Robert, has explained: “Part of the problem derives from the fact that most internal IT teams don’t have the skills, expertise or the time to keep up with the rapidly changing threat landscape as it’s not their key area of focus.” In order to be compliant, the sector will need to prioritise this work and bring in outside help to provide the technical knowhow needed to ensure the necessary systems are in place.
Joalpe has been providing shopfitting equipment to the retail industry for more than 30 years. We supply a wide range of products to companies of all sizes including: leaflet displays, shelf dividers and shopping baskets. For more information about any of our products or to place an order please get in touch today on +44 01924 468940 .
