Despite heightened scrutiny around data protection and digital privacy, research from Veritas Technologies, the data management firm, reveals that  42% of companies’ total data environments are ‘stale’ or ‘ancient’.

According to the study, a data environment is considered stale if it has not been modified in the last three years, while it’s considered ancient if it has not been changed in the previous seven years.

>See also: How could the EU GDPR affect tech companies?

With the introduction of regulations around data governance, such as the recent GDPR, which grants consumers the power to request access to or removal of the personal data a company holds on them, organisations will need to sort out their act.

As the volume and volatility of operational data increases, it looks to be overwhelming businesses. According to Veritas, data grows at an annual rate of 49%, while the average file size has grown by 23%.

Veritas research reveals that the financial services industry is one of the worst offenders, and 20% of stale data in the sector is made up of document files.

The study also highlighted that UK consumers are most likely to target financial services organisations, including insurance companies and banks, above any other industry sector, with personal data requests.

>See also: How can you protect personal data in the financial services sector?

Jason Tooley, Vice President Northern Europe at Veritas Technologies, said: “Increased regulation in industries such as the banking and financial services sectors provide good reasons for these organisations to be early adopters of digital technologies.”

“It’s vital that they embrace technology that enables them to locate personal data across different platforms, search through it, and retrieve or delete it efficiently and effectively.”

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“Regulatory compliance aside, as consumers demand more transparency and accountability from businesses, we are seeing a ‘new norm’ in which consumers intend to reward organisations that properly protect their personal data, and punish those that don’t by shopping elsewhere or attacking brand reputations. Stale data creates an unnecessary risk that can significantly damage reputation, brand loyalty and the bottom line,” concluded Tooley.