GDPR could help businesses clean up data handling practices. But some could be heading in the wrong direction

While most of the attention in the past months has been focused on the legal framework of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), little has been discussed about the culture change that the new rules are set to introduce. Companies can no longer afford to view data protection as a junior responsibility but have to treat it as a business imperative at all levels.

Most headlines on GDPR have covered the huge increase in fines – up to €20 million ($25 million approximately) or four percent of a company's global turnover, whichever is higher – or the cost involved in businesses getting GDPR ready. Compliance in the UK alone has been estimated to have cost between £300 and £450 per employee, with some FTSE 100 companies spending as much as £15 million,...