One-quarter of Irish organisations might not be GDPR-compliant according to 8 Equinix survey

Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data centre company, has announced the results of a survey that found that 25% of Irish IT decision-makers worry that their organisation is not GDPR-compliant. To bolster its own GDPR compliance and to help customers navigate GDPR, Equinix has just completed the rigorous process of Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) approval by European Union (EU) regulators. In doing so, it becomes the first company to have its BCRs approved by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) consisting of all 27 Member States set up under the new GDPR regime.

BCRs are designed to allow multinational companies to transfer personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to their affiliates located outside of the EEA while adhering to the highest standards, as demanded by EU regulators. Achieving BCRs compliance ensures that the personal data flows that Equinix adopts to operate its global enterprise and support its global customer base are GDPR compliant. To achieve this, Equinix demonstrated its robust security parameters for obtaining, processing and storing personal data used in order to provide services to customers on its global platform.

The process to get the BCRs approved with the Information Commissioner’s Office in the U.K. (ICO) as the lead data protection authority was conducted against the backdrop of uncertainty around Brexit and complicating factors as to what a possible no deal exit from the EU may mean for the standing of the ICO and the current BCRs application.

The BCRs certification comes as governments around the world consider and implement data privacy regulations modelled after the GDPR, including locations where Equinix does business, such as in California and Brazil. By ensuring data privacy compliance in any market deployed, Equinix’s global footprint enables its customers to conduct business in a way that can gain a competitive business advantage across the world’s digital economy. Indeed, 86% of Equinix customers deploy in multiple markets, with 73% of them operating across multiple regions.

In an independent survey commissioned by Equinix amongst 103 IT decision-makers in Ireland, the resulting need for a focus on data regulations was highlighted. The research showed that more than three-quarters (76%) of IT decision-makers say that complying with data protection regulations is a top priority for their business’s technology strategy, while 44% reported changing regulatory requirements around data privacy are a threat to their company.

Maurice Mortell, Managing Director for Ireland at Equinix, said: “Given the importance of regulatory compliance in today’s business environment, gaining BCRs approval is a significant achievement for Equinix. It gives our business partners the confidence that the personal data we obtain will be protected to the highest standards as set by the European Union. We are the first company to have our BCRs approved in the post-GDPR era, and we want to be a leader in compliance.

“As global and Irish business communities strive to become more compliant, they are choosing interconnection – or private connectivity – to mitigate many of the risks associated with being a digital enterprise today. The fact that a quarter of Irish enterprises might be exposing themselves – and their customers – to data infringements is very worrying. It highlights the need for businesses here to seize responsibility and ensure they are taking all of the necessary steps to be truly compliant.”

Peter Waters, SVP Legal EMEA and Chief Privacy Officer, Equinix, said: “As a company that helps facilitate the movement of data globally, we felt that seeking the highest standard of compliance around international transfers of personal data was the right approach for both Equinix and our global customer base, and that meant leveraging BCRs. As our BCRs were the first-ever to go through the process post-GDPR, we were put under scrutiny by the data protection regulators across the 27 EU member states. To have secured the approval of our BCRs in this context is a real success story. We believe this is an important milestone for Equinix in our own compliance strategy and for our global customers and partners who look to us to provide the security and trust required around how we operate our global enterprise.”