Companies in Greater Manchester risk GDPR penalties by not wiping memory from old IT equipment

78% of companies in Greater Manchester failed to wipe the memory off redundant IT equipment before disposal

In the two months following the introduction of GDPR, 78% of companies in Greater Manchester failed to wipe the memory off redundant IT equipment prior to disposal, a new survey has revealed.

Despite GDPR legislation having come into effect over four months ago, the majority of Greater Manchester businesses are now risking penalties by failing to adhere to some of the rules.

According to a survey of 1,002 UK workers in full or part-time employment, carried out by Proband, the overwhelming majority (78%) of businesses in Greater Manchester failed to wipe the data from IT equipment they disposed of in the two months following the introduction of GDPR.

This news is perhaps less surprising given the research also found that 69% of all Greater Manchester businesses do not have an official process or protocol for disposing of obsolete IT equipment.

What’s more, 72% of workers in Greater Manchester admit they wouldn’t even know who to approach in their company in order to correctly dispose of old or unusable equipment.

Worryingly, according to the data, businesses in Greater Manchester – many of which will have customer addresses and contact information on their systems – are collectively one of worst offenders of this nationally.

Matt Royle, marketing director at Probrand, commented: “Given the amount of publicity around GDPR it is arguably impossible to be unaware or misunderstand the basics of what is required for compliance.  So, it is startling to discover just how many businesses are failing to both implement and follow some of the simplest data protection practices.”

“It is especially startling to see this overwhelmingly high percentage for businesses based in Manchester, considering the sheer number of companies the city has in close concentration.”

“The fines involved in a GDPR breach can potentially run into the millions – and what appear to be less tangible impactors, like reputational damage, customer trust and loyalty, will ultimately become financially significant.”

“Given these findings, it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure that all businesses have a disposal procedure in place to avoid inadvertently leaking sensitive data.”