industry news
UKCLOUD HEALTH RESEARCH REVEALS MAJORITY OF BRITISH ADULTS CONCERNED ABOUT PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
UKCloud Health , the specialist healthcare division of UKCloud , has announced the findings of an extensive survey into the general public ’ s stance on data protection . The survey of more than 2,000 UK adults identified that the majority are concerned about whether their personal data and personally identifiable data are protected by companies and public service organisations . Seventy-five per cent of respondents said they were concerned about the protection of their personal data – such as financial , tax and criminal records – and 72 per cent said they were concerned about the protection of their personally identifiable data , including their date of birth or address .
Sixty-five per cent also stated that they were concerned about whether their health records , such as medical history or social care records , are protected by companies and public services . The survey was conducted before the recent ransomware attack on the NHS and other organisations worldwide .
The survey also showed that the British public would rather that organisations keep their personal data in the UK , with 82 per cent of British adults stating that the government should seek their permission before storing and processing their personal data with non-UK businesses . What ’ s more , the survey revealed that 55 per cent of British adults think that the UK government should prioritise working with UK businesses if the price and service is comparable with non-UK businesses .
Responding to the findings , UKCloud Health CEO Simon Hansford commented , ‘ There is clearly a significant trust issue when it comes to public perception of personal data protection . It is hardly surprising that we are reluctant to trust non-UK businesses to securely store and process our personal data . The leak of NSA tools and their subsequent use by hackers has shown how they exploit vulnerabilities to conduct covert surveillance . At the same time , the NSA and Trump administration are also using the ever growing set of legal powers that they have over US based companies to access data even when it is held outside the US ( such as in the UK based data centres of US cloud firms ).’ To download a copy of the full survey report click here .
Gartner says organisations are unprepared for the 2018 European Data Protection Regulation
The European General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) will have a global impact when it goes into effect on 25th May 2018 , according to Gartner . Gartner predicts that by the end of 2018 , more than 50 per cent of companies affected by the GDPR will not be in full compliance with its requirements .
‘ The GDPR will affect not only EU based organisations , but many data controllers and processors outside the EU as well ,’ said Bart Willemsen , research director at Gartner . ‘ Threats of hefty fines , as well as the increasingly empowered position of individual data subjects tilt the business case for compliance and should cause decision makers to reevaluate measures to safely process personal data .’
The GDPR replaces the Data Protection Directive 95 / 46 / EC and is designed to support the single market , to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe , to protect and empower European Union ( EU ) citizens ’ data privacy and reshape the way organisations approach data privacy for EU citizens wherever they work in the world . Gartner recommends organisations act now to ensure they are in compliance when the regulation goes into effect .
HyperGrid Expands into Sub- Saharan Africa with Networks Unlimited
HyperGrid is set to expand its global footprint following the signing of a new sub-Saharan African value-added distributor , Networks Unlimited . This is the first such partnership in Africa encompassing the growing South African market , as well as Kenya and several other sub-Saharan countries .
Networks Unlimited itself is a rapidly growing value-added distributor , offering the best and latest solutions within the converged technology , data centre , networking , and security landscapes .
HyperGrid , the enterprise cloud service company that provides public cloud services on-premises through HyperCloud , will make this service available in all African countries that Networks Unlimited has representation , helping the region ’ s enterprises accelerate a shift from building IT to consuming IT , while maintaining control and reducing costs .
‘ It is the only consumption based , cloud service for the enterprise on-premises , with integrated governance and control for DevOps management and orchestration for any application on bare-metal , VMs and containers , and on any cloud ,’ said Doug Rich , VP of EMEA at HyperGrid . ‘ You can have your own public cloud within your data centre , based on elastic infrastructure , fabric compute , storage and networking services . We believe that cloud is a model , not a destination . Any company can transform their IT into an agile cloud utility with HyperCloud .’
May 2017 | 7