UK firms to hire more staff to deal with new EU data protection rules

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Two thirds of firms say they intend to employ permanent new staff to cope with new EU rules designed to protect peoples’ private information after a number of high-profile data breaches, a survey has revealed.

A similar proportion of firms - 64 per cent - will take on more temporary or interim staff, the research from recruitment firm Robert Half found.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force next year, is set to introduce more stringent requirements around how firms maintain records of personal data, provide more transparency to the public when breaches occur.

The number of fines handed out for breaking UK data protection laws almost doubled last year, making Britain one of the most active regions for regulatory enforcement across Europe.

According to figures from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) analysed by professional services firm PwC, fines for data protection breaches hit over £3.2m in 2016, putting the UK on par with Italy, where fines totaled £3.3m, but dramatically below the US where fines of approximately $250m (£195m) were served.

In October 2016, TalkTalk was fined a record £400,000 for security failings which led to the theft of personal data of almost 157,000 customers.

A recent PwC survey found that 90 per cent of chief executive officers globally believe breaches of data privacy and ethics have a negative impact on stakeholder trust, and PwC warned that ahead of new regulation coming into force next year it was therefore paramount that businesses prioritise security and privacy.