According to Thales’s “2022 Thales Consumer Digital Trust Index,” consumers’ expectations of online companies’ capacity to safeguard their data are not in line with reality. One out of every three customers worldwide has already experienced a data breach at a company that holds their personal information.
The report provides information on the most recent global data breach trends and the serious effects they have had on consumer confidence across industries, including consumers’ propensity to do business with a company after an incident.
Consumers: are they too trusting?
Today, businesses ask themselves not if but when a data breach will happen. However, the findings show that, despite organizations’ awareness of the current cybersecurity landscape, this awareness is not necessarily transferring to customers. Despite the fact that 33% of consumers worldwide have experienced a data breach, 82% of consumers still have some level of confidence in the protection of their personal information by online digital service providers.
However, 82% of people who experienced a data breach saw a negative impact on their lives.
Consumer trust may be affected by location. Around the world, there are different rates of breaches. Consumers in nations with lower breach rates, however, were not necessarily more trustworthy than those in nations with higher breaches rates. The United States has one of the highest rates of data breach victims (48%). Nonetheless, consumer trust in the United States is higher (80%) than in countries with fewer breaches, such as Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
According to the industry, consumers’ confidence in the security of their data varied. The highest levels of confidence were seen in the financial and healthcare sectors (though only at 42% and 37%, respectively), while government and media/entertainment received the lowest ratings (12% and 14%, respectively).
Data breaches may not reduce consumer trust, but they do influence how consumers perceive their role in data protection. Victims are more inclined to take additional security measures to safeguard personal information.
Consumer expectations of businesses are also being influenced by data breaches, with 54% of respondents thinking that following a data breach, businesses should be required to implement mandatory data protection controls like encryption and two-factor authentication. More than one-fifth of customers ceased doing business with a company after a data breach.
Methodology
Thales’ 2022 Thales Consumer Digital Trust Index surveyed more than 21,000 adult consumers from 11 nations and five continents. Opinium conducted the study in collaboration with the University of Warwick.
