A new study from Transcend shows that two-thirds of technical leaders believe their organization still does not have an accurate picture of the personal data they hold as a result of system constraints, dependencies on manual processes, and inadequate resources.
Over 50% of business owners will require more than a year, multiple internal teams, and an external team to assist in discovering all data systems, and to create a unified data map.
As privacy regulations evolve around the world, such as increased enforcement of the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), significant modifications to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Apple''s new in-app deletion requirement understanding exactly what personal data a company controls and how it is being used is crucial to effective compliance and avoid penalties.
57% of respondents claim that new system containing user data are updated weekly, in some cases daily, within their businesses, but only 22% had implemented automated data discovery and inventory strategies.
While few are finding help from above in addressing their data problems, Transcends found that when asked what was hindering progress on improving their organizations data map with targeted projects, 62% cited lack of support from their leaders, while 31% said their budget was inadequate.
What should leaders make of these findings? While maintaining an accurate (and up-to-date) data map is critical to complying with today''s privacy laws, and new laws and regulations will be available on the market in the coming months. For example, indicating that 68 percent of businesses still rely on manual lists or ad hoc cross-functional communication to identify the systems they should include in their data subject request workflows.
Read Transcend''s full report.
