In our experience of working with thousands of businesses, we've found that in today's ever-evolving digital landscape, where data is highly valuable, the importance of protecting personal data has never been more important. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has been enforced since 2018, has set strict standards for the protection of individuals' data.
However, the impact of GDPR fines goes beyond the individual level and transcends organisational boundaries. Every organisation, regardless of size or location, should be acutely aware that even minor mistakes made by its employees can result in significant financial penalties. Let's take a look at some examples.
The staggering cost of GDPR violations
To understand the severity of this issue, one can refer to the GDPR Enforcement Tracker, where €4.0 billion in fines have already been levied for GDPR violations in 2023. This figure is a testament to the unwavering commitment of data protection authorities around the world to ensure GDPR compliance.
While tech giants such as Meta, Amazon and Google have made headlines for their hefty GDPR fines, it's important to recognise that GDPR violations affect businesses of all sizes. The GDPR Enforcement Tracker reports 37,850 fines issued between July 2018 and June 2023, highlighting that even small organisations aren't immune to the consequences of data breaches.
For example, in early 2022, FlexBooker, a small appointment management company, suffered a major data breach affecting around three million users. Hackers known as Uawrongteam exploited FlexBooker's AWS configuration and planted malware on its servers, gaining full control of the system. As a result, sensitive information such as ID details, driving licences and passwords were stolen and sold on hacker message boards, resulting in financial losses as many customers abandoned the platform.
Learn more about how to implement a successful information security strategy with our top five information security priorities for businesses in 2023.
Classical mishaps: Relatable lessons in GDPR compliance
Documentation and policies, typically overseen by privacy and information security coordinators, are a starting point, but won't drive organisational change on their own.
A joint study by Stanford University Professor Jeff Hancock and security firm Tessian found that 88% of data breaches are caused by employee error. Similar research by IBM Security puts the figure at 95%. Only 49% of businesses have taken action in at least five of the ten areas recommended by the UK government as ten steps to cyber security.
Let's take the example of an intern working in a marketing agency. They send out an email containing sensitive customer data, but accidentally include the wrong recipient.
Firstly, many people don't even understand that this situation is a breach - why else do we hear so many stories about incidents that have compromised personal data or information years after the fact? Therefore, a basic level of compliance education is needed so that everyone in the organisation has this awareness.
Secondly, even if the employee has the awareness to recognise that this is a data breach - what do they do now? Is it clear to them? If it's not, then the risk increases that it won't be reported in time and handled properly.
Data breaches and incidents are just one example. In reality, your people are constantly running into compliance barriers as they try to do their jobs. This contributes to operational efficiency but fundamentally protects your organisation from reputation-damaging incidents.
Key takeaways for your business
As the examples above illustrate, GDPR breaches can arise from seemingly innocuous mistakes. Whether it's inadvertently including an unintended recipient in a CC email or failing to comply with the finer points of data transfer regulations, the consequences can be severe.
Regardless of their size or reach, organisations must view GDPR compliance as an essential obligation. This involves employee training, robust data protection policies, and proactive compliance measures.
Hence, every organisation, regardless of its scale and location, should prioritise vigilance and education, recognising that in the data-driven era, ignorance is a costly risk. This is supported by Art. 39 GDPR, according to which tasks of the data protection officer (DPO) include: ‘awareness-raising and training of staff involved in processing operations’.
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You can start today by rolling out employee compliance training via the DataGuard Academy, an e-learning feature on our platform that offers various interactive training courses.
