The digital age has compelled companies to collect customer data to provide a more customized experience. However, businesses must follow specific requirements to maintain the privacy of their customers during the data collection process. One of the most extensive regulations governing data collection is GDPR. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is a strict set of data privacy laws for businesses that collect data on EU citizens. 

Under GDPR, businesses are responsible for safeguarding numerous types of personal information, including the customer’s IP address, cookie data, home address, and Social Security number. Below, you’ll find all sorts of GDPR statistics that will help us analyze its efficacy and provide crucial info on its public reception.

GDPR Compliance Statistics

1. Over $9 billion has been spent on GDPR compliance.
2. 1 in 5 companies thought full compliance was impossible.
3. Statistics show that the demand for data protection has skyrocketed by over 700%.
4. 67% of Europeans have heard of the GDPR.
5. There have been over €359 million in significant GDPR fines.
6. There were nearly 150,000 queries within a year of the GDPR becoming enforceable.

GDPR Compliance – Key Stats

Over $9 billion has been spent on GDPR compliance.

One of the most unexpected GDPR facts is that US businesses have spent $7.8 billion on GDPR compliance procedures. UK-based companies have spent $1.2 billion in the meantime. The appointment of more than 500,000 Data Protection Officers, GDPR gap assessments, legal services, and other initiatives are said to be among these steps. US companies, in particular, have been spending lots of money, likely to avoid the risk of multimillion-dollar fines and fees like the one Marriott International and Google had to face.

1 in 5 companies thought full compliance was impossible.

The implementation of GDPR created a huge task for businesses to overcome. Many dumped any previous data they had as a more accessible alternative to becoming compliant. Others chose to stop serving EU citizens altogether. These are real businesses’ only two options if they do not want to make their company compliant. However, many companies did put in the effort to become compliant, and large UK companies spent over €900,000,000 collectively to prep for the GDP

Statistics show that the demand for data protection has skyrocketed.

Data Protection Officers have been playing the most significant role in the implementation of the GDPR. The thing is: These employees or teams hired by companies are dedicated solely to data protection. In 2017, there were, at most, 83,000 DPOs employed in the workforce. Nowadays, there are over half a million!

As things stand, the hiring frenzy for DPOs is not slowing down, as the demand for data protection officers has skyrocketed. Both inside and outside the EU, companies take data protection much more seriously. As a result, the DPO market is thriving.

67% of Europeans have heard of the GDPR.

The GDPR impacts every single business throughout the world that has European customers. According to the latest GDPR statistics, two-thirds of Europeans have heard of the GDPR. Furthermore, 36% claim they’re well acquainted with its provisions. 

What’s surprising is that there is a significant discrepancy in awareness of the GDPR between different countries’ populations. For instance, 90% of Swedes know what the regulation is about, while only 44% of the French do.

There have been over €359 million in major GDPR fines.

Since the compliance date for the regulation, EU data protection agencies have claimed €359,205,300 in major GDPR penalties and fines. And that’s only the big ones. While there were only €424,800 in fines in 2018, the figure skyrocketed to a mind-boggling €358,780,500 in 2019. By far, the largest of these fines was the £183,000,000 charged to British Airways in the UK. The national airline carrier had to pay this after a major attack on its website extracted over 500,000 customer records.

There were nearly 150,000 queries within a year of the GDPR becoming enforceable.

The GDPR set clear boundaries regarding what’s acceptable when processing data and opened new channels for Europeans to report wrongdoers.

As a result, a recent GDPR infographic indicates that just a year after the regulation’s implementation, individuals and organizations had contacted authorities with 144,376 queries or complaints related to inadequate data protection, security breaches, illegal video surveillance, and others.

Other GDPR Compliance Stats

• 45% of Europeans still worry about their privacy, even post-GDPR.
• Fines for non-compliance can reach 4% of the company’s global turnover or €20 million ($24.4 million), whichever is higher.
• More than 1,000 news websites blocked EU netizens instead of complying with the GDPR.
• Nearly 8 out of 10 US companies took steps to comply with the GDPR.
• Almost a third of EU companies are not GDPR compliant, stats about GDP reveal.
• Over 1000 online publications have blocked EU readers.

Conclusion

The amount of money being spent, as shown by the GDPR compliance statistics, shows that companies are clearly taking efforts seriously. Even though the GDPR has had mixed reviews and results, almost everyone can agree that it is a step in the right direction for data security and privacy. 

Most agree that their online data is an extension of themselves, giving everyone the right to govern their data. It’s essential to keep in mind that there are side effects to rapid policy change without a proper time frame to prepare and adjust. 

We compiled this list of curious GDPR statistics to inform you more about privacy’s importance. Now that you do, we hope you can browse the internet more confidently.

Sources

https://legaljobs.io/blog/gdpr-statistics/#:~:text=Key%20GDPR%20Compliance%20Statistics,major%20GDPR%20fines%20so%20far

https://webtribunal.net/blog/gdpr-statistics/

https://www.luxatiainternational.com/article/gdpr-statistics-from-the-first-year-infographic

https://www.varonis.com/blog/gdpr-effect-review