Gartner Says Over 40% of Privacy Compliance Technology Will Rely on Artificial Intelligence in the Next Three Years

Gartner Analysts to Discuss Technology Considerations for Privacy Leaders at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ 2020 in Toronto, May 11-14

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 40% of privacy compliance technology will rely on artificial intelligence (AI) by 2023, up from 5% today, according to Gartner, Inc.

“Privacy laws, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), presented a compelling business case for privacy compliance and inspired many other jurisdictions worldwide to follow,” said Bart Willemsen, research vice president at Gartner.

“More than 60 jurisdictions around the world have proposed or are drafting postmodern privacy and data protection laws as a result. Canada, for example, is looking to modernize their Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), in part to maintain the adequacy standing with the EU post-GDPR.”

Privacy leaders are under pressure to ensure that all personal data processed is brought in scope and under control, which is difficult and expensive to manage without technology aid. This is where the use of AI-powered applications that reduce administrative burdens and manual workloads come in.

AI-Powered Privacy Technology Lessens Compliance Headaches

At the forefront of a positive privacy user experience (UX) is the ability of an organization to promptly handle subject rights requests (SRRs). SRRs cover a defined set of rights, where individuals have the power to make requests regarding their data and organizations must respond to them in a defined time frame.

According to the 2019 Gartner Security and Risk Survey, many organizations are not capable of delivering swift and precise answers to the SRRs they receive. Two-thirds of respondents indicated it takes them two or more weeks to respond to a single SRR. Often done manually as well, the average costs of these workflows are roughly $1,400 USD, which pile up over time.

“The speed and consistency by which AI-powered tools can help address large volumes of SRRs not only saves an organization excessive spend, but also repairs customer trust,” said Mr. Willemsen. “With the loss of customers serving as privacy leaders’ second highest concern, such tools will ensure that their privacy demands are met.”

Global Privacy Spending on Compliance Tooling Will Rise to $8 Billion Through 2022

Through 2022, privacy-driven spending on compliance tooling will rise to $8 billion worldwide. Gartner expects privacy spending to impact connected stakeholders’ purchasing strategies, including those of CIOs, CDOs and CMOs. “Today’s post-GDPR era demands a wide array of technological capabilities, well beyond the standard Excel sheets of the past,” said Mr. Willemsen.

“The privacy-driven technology market is still emerging,” said Mr. Willemsen. “What is certain is that privacy, as a conscious and deliberate discipline, will play a considerable role in how and why vendors develop their products. As AI turbocharges privacy readiness by assisting organizations in areas like SRR management and data discovery, we’ll start to see more AI capabilities offered by service providers.”

For Editors

The 2019 Gartner Security and Risk Survey was conducted from March 2019 through April 2019 to better understand how risk management planning, operations, budgeting and buying are performed. The research was conducted online among 698 respondents in Brazil, Germany, India, the U.S. and the UK. Qualifying organizations have at least 100 employees and $50 million (USD equivalent) in total annual revenue for fiscal year 2018.

Gartner clients can read more in the reports “5 Areas Where AI Will Turbocharge Privacy Readiness” and “Predicts 2020: Embrace Privacy and Overcome Ambiguity to Drive Digital Transformation.” Learn more about Gartner’s 2020 Predictions in the Special Report “Predicts 2020: Barriers Fall as Technology Adoption Grows.”

Additional analysis on driving business performance will be presented during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2020, the world's most important gathering of CIOs and other IT executives. IT executives rely on these events to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to overcome business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Follow news and updates from the conferences on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.

Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo include:

March 2-4, 2020: Dubai
May 11-14, 2020: Toronto
September 14-17, Sao Paulo
October 5-7. Cape Town
October 18-22, Orlando
October 26-29, Gold Coast, Australia
November 3-6, Kochi, India
November 8-12, Barcelona

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