Data Privacy is having a big year.  The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable in May 2018, along with potential fines of up to 4% of gross revenue, and many countries have passed or updated their own privacy laws to align to the GDPR framework.  California passed a new privacy law that went from draft to law in under a week last June, and other states have or are considering following suit.  A U.S. Federal Data Protection Law is now under serious discussion.  In this environment, organizations have been working hard to meet and prepare for these privacy requirements, and they would like to know how their investments are helping their organizations beyond just meeting compliance requirements.  Is there an ROI beyond fine and penalty avoidance?

Today, in observance of International Data Privacy Day, Cisco released its2019 Data Privacy Benchmark Studyrevealing the impact and business benefits from data privacy investments.   The Study draws on responses in a double-blind survey from over 3200 privacy and security professional in 18 countries.

GDPR Readiness Impact 

The Study finds that organizations are benefitting from their privacy investments beyond compliance.  While only 59% of companies believe they are ready for all or most of GDPR