Is Data Privacy Most Important Concern for Americans?

There seems to be little doubt that the security and privacy of their personal data is important to Americans, and it is becoming more so every day (or maybe every data breach!). This has been an important subject in the textbook from the beginning and these are important findings that look forward to the future of the topic and build on content in Chapter 17.

Is Data Privacy the Top Concern?

Americans' concern about privacy has been tracked from the early days of the internet. EPIC has a page Public Opinion on Privacy that chronicles studies back as far as 1990 and has links to the most important ones from the present back to 2011. It's a tremendous resource. But what is the status of the concern at present?

http://bit.ly/2AYwZyg

The Harris Poll has conducted two surveys recently, the first for IBM and the second with Finn Partners. The April 2018 study found a big gap between what customers want from the firms they do business with and what those firms actually provide as shown in the graphic. Specifically, the respondents replied as follows:

• 75 percent will not buy a product from a company – no matter how great the products are – if they don't trust the company to protect their data;
• 73 percent think businesses are focused on profits over addressing consumers' security needs;
• 73 percent indicated it is extremely important that companies quickly take proper actions to stop a data breach; and
• 60 percent are more concerned about cybersecurity than a potential war.

Harris conducted a second study with Finn Partners in conjunction with the introduction of their Societal ROI Index. That's an interesting subject that should resonate with students; more about the Index later.

http://bit.ly/2SXhsWy

• The global study extracted the American data to confirm that data privacy was once again the most important societal concern for the US respondents, as the graphic shows. However, privacy ranked only 6th on the list of concern on which businesses are having a positive impact.
• Access to healthcare was second on the list of concerns. Respondents ranked healthcare 4th on the list of positive business impact.
• They ranked job creation first in terms of where business was having a positive societal impact. Job creation was 5th on their list of concerns.

 

 

 

Are Businesses Losing the Battle for Trust?

The third graphic doesn't answer that question directly, but the data on 2017 data breaches provide a strong implication. If data privacy is most important to customers and the war on data breaches is being lost, the trend is clearly in the wrong direction. Consider the number and growing magnitude of these data breaches in 2017.

 https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018

The survey confirmed that there is a rising national sentiment of anxiety as relatively few consumers trust that their data is secured by the organizations that manage it. Specifically, the survey revealed that 78 percent of U.S. respondents say a company’s ability to keep their data private is extremely important but only 20 percent completely trust organizations they interact with to maintain the privacy of their data.

The online survey of 10,000 global consumers also found that:

• 69 percent said it is extremely important that companies are accessible in the wake of a data breach;
• 73 percent indicated it is extremely important companies quickly take proper actions to stop a data breach;
• 75 percent will not buy a product from a company – no matter how great the products are – if they don’t trust the company to protect their data;
• 73 percent think businesses are focused on profits over addressing consumers’ security needs

The Freedom House report on the status of internet freedom in 2018 has a great deal more important data and I'll also return to that later.

The Important Take-Aways

There are many important things going on here, but these are the two top takeaways:

1. The tsunami of data breaches goes on and, in spite of corporate efforts, it hasn't yet shown any evidence of abating. The breached data leads to identity theft. Even more broadly, it leads to fear of identity theft among the general public. If brands are letting their identities be stolen, how can customers trust them?
2. Another issue with great potential long-term impact is emerging--the expectation held by many consumers, especially younger ones, that corporations will act in the best interests of society, not just in their own best interests. 

          According to USA Today: Americans believe that companies should have a mission that goes    beyond the money—one that has a positive impact on world hunger, job creation and education, according to the latest Harris Poll data. . .  "When it comes down to it, people want companies to address the issues that they struggle with every day like safety, security and health," said Amy Terpeluk, a senior partner at Finn Partners. "Companies that address these needs can build their reputation and in turn strengthen their business."

 These are profound shifts in the business landscape and students need to think about the ways in which they will prepare to deal with them.

Related Updates
Changes in privacy expectations, US and UK