Eight out of ten Irish organisations now have a named person with responsibility for data protection, with an overall increase in awareness of data protection requirements.
These are some of the key findings of the Irish Computer Society (ICS) Data Protection Survey 2013, conducted by Fresh Perspectives, which examined awareness of data protection and instances of data breaches among Irish companies. The survey was conducted among more than 250 IT administration and management staff.
Some 80% of respondents stated that their organisation now have a named person or persons responsible for data protection in their organisation, which the ICS says, shows the increased importance of compliance. The avoidance of penalties and the protection of reputation were ranked as the two main motivators for compliance and the increased level of data protection policies.
However, a relative decrease in confidence that staff are aware of these policies points to the ongoing need for training and promotion of the data protection position and policies within organisations, argues ICS. The need for training is emphasised by the fact that respondents highlighted negligent employees as the greatest threat to an organisations data. It was also noted that of the 43% of organisations who experienced data breaches in the past twelve months, the majority were caused by staff members.
"Organisations might appreciate the importance of data security, but they must also instil a culture of compliant data management throughout the company not just amongst the designated data protection personnel," said Fintan Swanton, president, Association of Data Protection Officers. "By committing to formally training staff in data protection legislation, companies can benefit additionally by enhancing public confidence in the organisation."
The survey showed that the increase in mobile devices has also led to an increased recognition of end-user devices as a threat to data security, up 12% from the previous year, indicating the need to ensure organisations’ data protection policies are placing sufficient emphasis on mobile devices.
The survey was released in time for the ICS fifth annual data protection conference which takes place in Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin 4, Thursday 21 February. The conference will be opened by the Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes.
For more information see the ICS web site.
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