One in five small UK firms have likely breached the Data Protection Act, while half have probably done so several times, according to a new survey.
National standards body the BSI found 18 per cent of the 500 small and medium businesses (SMBs) polled didn't know one way or another if they were compliant with the act.
Not surprisingly then, the survey also suggested 65 per cent didn't bother to train staff about data protection, while half had no single person in charge of the issue. And 15 per cent said their processes likely don't meet the act, but five per cent share data regardless.
Mike Low, director of standards for BSI, said: "These organisations are handling vast amounts of personal information on a daily basis and while it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place this survey clearly shows that there is still a long way to go."
Despite the importance of data protection and the many high profile data breaches some 18 per cent of SMBs said keeping such information safe was not a majory priority given the failing economy. The survey was released to mark the launch of a new data management standard from the BSI.
Click here to read the 11 lessons companies should learn about data breaches.
