Thousands of data protection officers needed to comply with EU rules by 2018

The UK will need thousands of data protection monitors to handle new legislation due to come into force in 2018, according to academic analysts, The Brief reports.

Researchers for the Henley Business School have warned that businesses with more than 250 employees will have to employ and train at least one data protection officers to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

They say the rules will affect some 7,000 businesses and that smaller companies may choose to outsource the function to data protection managed services. However, such services would still need to be trained in the particulars of the business.

Mike Davis of the Henley Business School said: “What the underlying figures for the recruitment and training of a DPO conceal is the vast amount of changes to data processing policies, processes and procedures that must be undertaken as a matter of urgency in order to protect business continuity in the face of one of the biggest shake-ups in data protection for over two decades.”