ObserveIT,
the leading insider threat management platform with more than 1,900
customers around the world, today announced findings from a survey
revealing how employees and the organizations they work for are
prioritizing data privacy. The survey polled 1,000 full-time employees
in the United States and United Kingdom to determine their understanding
of their organizations’ current privacy regulations.
New policies and regulations dictating organizations’ handling of
sensitive consumer information – such as The General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act and Vermont’s
data privacy law – have brought to light the need for companies
across the globe to put the privacy of their customers and employees
first. It is important for organizations to adopt technology solutions
and to invest in training to ensure all employees, partners and
contractors understand regulations and the potential repercussions of
non-compliance. Employees can be an organization’s strongest defense for
protecting sensitive information, but to do so, they need the right
knowledge, training and support.
Key findings from the survey include:
-
Most employees handle sensitive information daily. Almost 60%
of full-time employees in the U.S. (58%) and the UK (59%) are handling
sensitive information every day; however, employees in the UK are far
more aware of privacy regulations around protecting this data. -
There is a lack of understanding of privacy laws in the U.S. versus
UK. In the U.S. more than half (52%) of employees aren’t aware of
any privacy laws dictating how organizations manage sensitive data,
but in the UK only 17% of people are unaware these laws. Further, in
the U.S., one-third of respondents say they aren’t aware of any
privacy policies their organization abides by. -
There is an opportunity for better training, especially in the U.S. Sixty-seven
percent of employees in the UK feel they have ample training to ensure
that customer data is protected in line with regional regulations
versus 47% of employees in the U.S. -
The jury is still out on whether or not employers are doing enough
to keep employees’ personal information private. Forty-five
percent of U.S. employees aren’t very confident their organization is
taking the proper steps to protect their own personal information
compared with 38% in the UK. Thirty-seven percent of respondents in
the U.S. agree that privacy regulations are important for keeping
sensitive employee and customer information secure. -
GDPR has had a much greater impact on employees in the UK versus
U.S. While 65% of UK employees say they are handling information
differently with the introduction of GDPR, only 15% of employees in
the U.S. even know what GDPR is. Further, UK employees have a
strong understanding of their compliance responsibilities. A year
after the official implementation of GDPR, 84% of UK employees said
they understand their data compliance obligations at work and 51%
agree that their information is safer now with GDPR.
“Privacy regulations aren’t going away any time soon. In fact, over the
next several years, we’ll likely see more regional policies go into
effect as consumers demand more transparency around how their
information is being used,” said Mike McKee, CEO of ObserveIT. “We’re
committed to helping organizations navigate this privacy-centric
business environment by providing a deep understanding of user and data
activity, ensuring the information of their customers and employees
remains secure.”
ObserveIT is helping organizations to secure customer and user privacy
data and comply with GDPR and other compliance standards, by providing
full visibility into data activity across all endpoints and cloud
environments. To learn more, visit here.
To learn more about ObserveIT’s survey visit here.
For more information on how ObserveIT empowers security teams to
proactively detect insider threats, streamline the investigation process
and enable rapid response, visit here.
For a free trial of ObserveIT 7.7, visit here.
About ObserveIT
ObserveIT is the leading Insider Threat
Management solution with more than 1,900 customers across 87 countries.
ObserveIT is the only solution that empowers security teams to
proactively detect insider threats, streamline the investigation
process, and enable rapid response. With 350+ out-of-the-box insider
threat indicators of compromise, rich metadata and outstanding search
capability and playback of any policy violation, ObserveIT provides
comprehensive visibility into what people – contractors, privileged
users and high-risk users – are doing, and reduces investigation time
from weeks or months to days. For more information visit: www.observeit.com.
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