Data Privacy, Compliance, and Data Access Control Among Top Challenges Hindering Organizations Ability to Effectively Embrace Data for Analytics

Privitar, the leader in data privacy and security, has released the results of a new survey of 100 data leaders conducted by Bloor Research which found that access to data is significantly limited by data privacy and protection regulations.

The State of Data Analytics: Key Challenges in a Strict Security and Privacy Environment reveals that the majority of the data leaders surveyed (60%) are unable to use more than 40% of their data due to privacy concerns. While the data that is available to those surveyed is readily accessible (84% can receive data in less than a week), this represents only a fraction of the data they need to access to drive innovation. In reaction, more than two-thirds (70%) of respondents currently have or plan to invest in a data privacy solution within the next year.

“Businesses are facing a tremendous challenge: they need timely access to data to gain accurate insights and drive competitive data initiatives. But they also need to ensure their data remains safe and compliant,” said Steve Totman, Chief Strategy Officer at Privitar. “Balancing an organization’s need for analytical utility with the need to protect personal customer information and comply with rapidly evolving regulatory requirements is no small feat – but it is one that if not addressed will curtail an organization’s ability to reach the full potential of their data and analytics initiatives.”

Goals Are Clear, But Data Privacy and Compliance Challenges Remain Pervasive

Data leaders are clear about their goals for using and analyzing data. Their top three goals for leveraging data include gaining a competitive advantage (56%), reducing costs (49%), and improving efficiency (46%). Additionally, those surveyed want to use their data to improve business decision-making (45%) and to develop new products and services, and revenue streams (40%). Two-thirds (64.6%) of respondents say increasing the return on investment (ROI) from data and analytics investments is critical, with 40% stating that investments to date have not achieved the desired results.

Data privacy and compliance challenges are abundant, with the majority of organizations leaving substantial amounts of data untapped. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents (62.6%) stated that privacy concerns limit their ability to use data effectively.

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When asked to delve deeper into their specific data protection and privacy challenges, 67% of respondents said access to useful data was restricted because of governance mandates; 61.2% said data protection reduced the value of their data; and 56.6% stated that complex, ad hoc, or manual data access processes created challenges.

Approximately three-quarters of organizations (73.7%) find it a challenge to keep up with the pace of regulatory change, and nearly 9 out of 10 (89%) are looking to simplify processes for achieving regulatory compliance. More than half (57.6%) state that they are unable to manage the risks that they face.

Organizations Taking Action

Organizations are taking the challenges they face seriously, with a significant majority planning to invest in data privacy tools. More than one-third (35%) of organizations surveyed are currently investing in data privacy tools, which can help minimize the risk associated with sensitive data. Another 35% of respondents plan to invest in data privacy tools within the next year. The top reasons for making data privacy investments are to mitigate risks and data loss (59%) and to comply with standards and regulations (57%).

In addition to embracing data privacy tools to improve their analytics efforts, the data leaders surveyed also cite a distinct desire to expand the range of data sources available for approved use (64%), have faster access to approved and protected data (59%), enable more users to access approved data (59%), and increase the ability to share data with partners (57%).

“It’s encouraging to see so many organizations taking action to keep their data safe by embracing data privacy as part of a data security platform,” added Totman. “For those that want to maximize their efforts, data security platforms like Privitar can help simplify data protection by providing access controls and data privacy, ensuring efficient regulatory compliance, and democratizing access to safe, high-utility data. Expanding access to safe data can have a dramatic impact on an organization’s ability to effectively leverage that data for innovation.”

Survey Background and Methodology

This survey was commissioned by Privitar and fielded by Bloor Research to understand the current state of the data landscape, and the challenges and opportunities facing data leaders. This survey was based on telephone interviews of 100 data leaders in the US, UK, France and Germany, underlying which was a detailed questionnaire. The respondents all have an influence in decisions about their organization’s data management, from departments such as IT, data analytics, data management, compliance, and security. They represent enterprises with a minimum of 1,000 employees, and reflect a cross-section of industries, including financial services, healthcare, information technology, retail and industrial.

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