ISACA 2023 Privacy in Practice report identifies extent of skills shortages

Ahead of Data Protection Day, ISACA has published its Privacy in Practice 2023 report, which highlights 94% of businesses acknowledge a privacy skills gap. This is despite 87% of European organisations conducting privacy cultural awareness training. The report identifies the need for companies to change direction in addressing the privacy skills gap, looking beyond experience and instead focusing on training and upskilling. The report also reveals 59% of technical privacy teams in Europe are understaffed, with 1 in 5 businesses saying it takes them more than six months to fill technical privacy vacancies and 41% reporting underfunded budgets. Lack or insufficient training accounted for the most reported privacy incidents, 49%, with personal data breaches at 38% and failing to follow privacy by design principles at 39%. Only 38% of business leaders showed confidence in their organisation's ability to protect personal data. The report concludes organisations need a new approach to closing the privacy skills gap or risk jeopardising consumer relationships and causing reputational damage.

ISACA also published an accompanying Privacy-in-practice infographic looking at privacy staffing, team structure, frameworks and policies, budgets, training, and data breaches. Along with two additional blog posts examining the Global state of privacy and Where privacy stands five years after the GDPR.