With four months to go, just a third of companies globally have a plan in place to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May 2018, according to the Global Forensic Data Analytics Survey, conducted by EY. The majority – four-fifths – of global companies say they are increasingly concerned about complying with GDPR. The survey of 745 in 19 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia-Pacific suggests there is not enough preparation for data protection and data privacy. The key findings were:

• 78 per cent consider data protection and data privacy compliance a growing concern;
• only 33 per cent of respondents have a plan in place for GDPR; and
• increasing adoption of advanced FDA technology, including robotics and AI, likely over the next 12 months.

While a third of the companies globally don't have a plan for GDPR compliance, the levels of preparation vary across regions, with far more preparation (60 per cent) in Europe, as expected:

• Europe – 60 per cent;
• Africa and the Middle East – 27 per cent;
• the Americas – 13 per cent; and
• Asia-Pacific – 12 per cent.

According to EY's Andrew Gordon, the adoption of forensic data analytics (FDA) can bring significant advantages in terms of data privacy compliance: “The pace of regulatory change continues to accelerate and the introduction of data protection and data privacy laws, such as GDPR, are major compliance challenges for global organizations. But businesses that adopt FDA technologies can achieve significant advantages, benefitting from more effective risk management and increased business transparency across all of their operations.”

These articles on GDPR could help to point your company in the right direction towards compliance:

• 8 steps to steer your company towards GDPR compliance
• Getting to grips with the GDPR
• How much will GDPR cost your company?