The vast majority of UK marketers do not think their websites will be GDPR-compliant by the time the new law comes into effect, according to research by Ensighten. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is due to come into effect on 25 May 2018. It will give EU citizens the right to order any company to stop building profiles about them, request data deletion within 30 days, move data from one provider to another, and give them the “right to be forgotten”. If a company fails to comply, they will be fined either €20 million or 4% of their annual global revenue, whichever is larger. Despite the stakes being so high, however, only 28% of UK marketers believe that they will be GDPR-compliant in time. The biggest obstacles seem to be a lack of understanding about what the GDPR law actually says, difficulties managing suppliers, and marketing complexity. A spokesperson from Ensighten commented on the findings, saying that marketers should not be afraid of GDPR, saying: “As GDPR forces brands to re-approach how they interact with consumers, it will… [usher] in an era of transparency that will change our industry for the better.”
