More than seven in ten SMEs are not ready with the measures for the new European privacy legislation they have to comply with in a month. This is evident from a poll of MKB Servicedesk among 2800 companies. What is striking, according to MKB-Nederland, is that more than 77 percent of the surveyed entrepreneurs call the information provided by the government bad or even very bad.
Privacy legislation extremely complex
MKB-Nederland finds the results worrying, but also not surprising. Director Leendert-Jan Visser: 'We hear from many entrepreneurs who are at a loss, don't know where to start and can't see the wood for the trees. It is extremely complex legislation, mainly intended to close potential risks at large data giants. The big problem is that it does not take into account small and medium-sized businesses. The sense of proportionality in this law is lacking, which means that SMEs are poorly served by it, and this is reflected in these survey results.'
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens must help rather than enforce
According to Visser, the SME entrepreneur is best served by customization: information tailored to his company/industry that relieves him and provides tools he can use today to be compliant tomorrow. The government should invest in this. As far as we are concerned, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens should focus on helping rather than enforcing in the near future. Ensure a soft landing of this law in SMEs.'
AVG demands measures from SMEs too
Starting next May 25, the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) will replace the current Personal Data Protection Act. The same privacy legislation will then apply in all European member states. Stricter standards will then apply to the processing of personal data, such as customer and employee data, and more responsibilities will be placed on companies. This law will apply to all organizations, from the self-employed to multinationals and sports associations. So SMEs will also have to take measures.
For smaller companies privacy law still unknown
Although there is a clear increase compared to a poll last year in the number of companies that are aware of the new legislation and (will) take measures, 70 percent have not yet taken concrete measures. More than half of SMEs have already taken measures or will do so soon. Companies in the business services sector, which were the worst informed about the new law in last year's survey by the MKB Servicedesk, are now the best informed of all sectors. In terms of company size, 38 percent of smaller SMEs (1-5 employees) are still unaware of the AVG.
