Study reveals surge in interest in data protection

New research from ClearStory International has revealed a significant surge in interest in Data Protection over the past twelve months (April 2019 – May 2020). Other most talked about topics by the media included Video Conferencing, Remote Working and Social Enterprise.

A total of 33 tech topics were analysed as part of the research which was aimed at highlighting trends across the innovation sector. Overall, the number of tech articles increased by 32% over the past twelve months, from 88,456 in April 2019, to 116, 366 in April 2020. The increase in media outlets reporting on Data Protection rose by 262% with 16,000 articles (compared to 4,420 in 2019) published this year.

The tech trends report showed the top five topics receiving the most media coverage over the last twelve months were:

Video Conferencing (increased by 834% from low point)

Remote Working (increased by 757% from low point)

Data Protection (increased by 262% from low point)

Messaging Apps (increased by 53% from low point)

Social Enterprise (increased by 53% from low point)

The shift in interest towards Data Protection comes after the UK’sGDPR (United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation) came into effect on the 31st of January this year. Noticeable contributing factors included coronavirus and Brexit, which saw remote working and contact tracing fuel interest in data protection and legislation. According to recent figures from Ipsos last November, 67% of British people expressed concern about how information collected on them online by the Government was actually used.

Other popular topics of interest among UK media such as Video Conferencing and Remote Working soared over the last six months as the UK operated through lockdown.

Speaking about the Tech Trend Report for the UK, CEO and Founder of ClearStory International, James McCann said:

“UK media has experienced a seismic shift in topics of interest among audiences, due to coronavirus and Brexit. While remote working and video conferencing remain obvious topics of interest, the latter part of this year saw Data Protection become a contentious issue as tracing apps and platforms for working from home became more important than ever before. This annual report summarises noticeable shifts in public behaviour and attitudes and indicates what changes we can anticipate across the tech sector over the next 12 months.”

ClearStory International is a global public relations agency focused on accelerating tech companies.