Some 48 per cent of UK adults plan to activate new rights over their personal data, following the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018.

This is according to a poll of 2,000 UK adults from SAS, which found that 15 per cent even expressed their intention to activate their new rights in the same month that the GDPR comes into force.

The 45-54 year-old age group is most likely to issue a request, with just over one in five (21 per cent) stating that they will active their new rights in the first month. That drops to 13 per cent for the 18-24 year old age category.

The poll also revealed the rights which UK adults would welcome the most: the customer’s right to access compiled on them (64 per cent), the right to erase personal data from certain systems (62 per cent), the right to rectification of inaccurate data (59 per cent), the right to block use of data for marketing and profiling (56 per cent), and the right to restrict data processing (54 per cent).

The poll also asked consumers what information they were prepared to share with their favourite brands or organisations, so they could benefit from improved or tailored services. It revealed that only a minority would voluntarily share what their friends and relatives like or dislike (five per cent), details on their social media activity (six per cent), information on their feelings or emotions (seven per cent) or insight into their credit rating (eight per cent), political preferences (eight per cent) and opinions on societal issues (nine per cent).

Charles Senabulya, vice president and country manager for SAS UK & Ireland, commented: “Finding customer zero is a huge challenge for some organisations. Personal data is often stored in thousands of databases and organisations will need to find, evaluate and categorise every piece of data relating to each customer to ensure compliance.

“Overcoming this challenge presents an opportunity for organisations as they form a new type of relationship with their customers that is bound by integrity, understanding and respect for their individual choices. We are entering a new data era that requires a firm grip of customer data. One that rewards consumers as well as protects their right to privacy.”

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