SSN News Poll gauges reader familiarity with GDPR

YARMOUTH, Maine—The EU General Data Protection Regulation—better known as the GDPR—became enforceable as of May 25. This regulation addresses how personal data of EU citizens is handled, with GDPR fines that could amount to more than 1 million euros per violation.

As professional security handles personal information through a variety of systems—video surveillance, video data storage, access control, etc.—the industry stands to be widely impacted by the regulation, particularly as the GDPR addresses how information is gathered, stored, and who can access it.

SSN first asked its readers whether they were following the GDPR. Fifty-eight percent said that they knew a little about it and were learning more, at the time of the poll between mid-May and early June. Twenty-nine percent said they were staying on top of it, and 12 percent said that SSN's poll was the first they were hearing of the GDPR.

Readers were pretty closely divided when it comes to whether the GDPR will affect them. Thirty-eight percent said that they expect the GDPR to affect their business, and they are already compliant. Twenty-nine percent don't anticipate the GDPR will affect them much, but the company is still preparing. Thirty-three percent said the regulation won't affect them.

Forty-six percent of poll respondents said that their business is entirely contained within North America. Some respondents—33 percent—reported that most of their business is outside of North America. Another 21 percent said that some of their business is outside of North America.