Enterprises Need to Do More to Assure Consumers About Privacy

Privacy
is
critical
for
business,
according
to
95%
of
security
professionals
surveyed
in
the
sixth
edition
of

Cisco’s
Data
Privacy
Benchmark
Study.
The
survey
of
more
than
4,700
security
professionals
from
26
geographies
included
more
than
3,100
respondents
who
were
familiar
with
the
data
privacy
program
at
their
organizations.
Also,
94%
of
respondents
said
customer
would
not
buy
from
them
if
they
thought
the
data
was
not
properly
protected.

Another
interesting
thing
to
note:
96%
say
they
have
an
ethical
obligation
to
treat
data
properly.

However,
there
is
a
disconnect
between
what
consumers
say
is
necessary
to
gain
their
trust
on
how
their
information
is
used,
and
what
organizations
think
they
need
to
do
to
gain
that
trust.
Consumers
say
transparency
is
the
top
priority
to
gain
their
trust
(39%),
followed
by
not
selling
personal
information
(21%),
and
compliance
with
privacy
laws
(20%).
Among
organizations,
the
priority
order
varied.
From
the
business
perspective,
compliance
with
existing
regulations
(30%)
was
the
number
one
priority
for
building
customer
trust,
followed
by
transparency
about
how
the
data
is
being
used
(26%),
and
not
selling
personal
information
(21%).

“Certainly
organizations
need
to
comply
with
privacy
laws,”
Cisco
writes
in
the
report.
“But
when
it
comes
to
earning
and
building
trust,
compliance
is
not
enough.
Consumers
consider
legal
compliance
to
be
a
‘given,’
with
transparency
more
of
a
differentiator.”

This
disconnect
is
also
present
in
regards
to
data
and
artificial
intelligence.
While
consumers
are
“generally
supportive”
of
AI,
automated
decision-making
is
still
an
area
of
concern,
according
to
the
report.
Around
three-quarter
of
consumers
(76%)
in
the
survey
say
providing
opportunities
for
them
to
opt
out
of
AI-based
applications
would
help
make
them
“much
more”
or
“more”
comfortable
with
AI.
Consumers
would
also
like
to
see
organizations
institute
an
AI
ethics
management
program
(75%),
explain
how
the
application
is
making
decisions
(74%),
and
involve
a
human
in
the
decision-making
process
(75%)
according
to
the
survey
findings.

Organizations,
in
contrast,
are
not
prioritizing
opt-outs,
with
just
21%
saying
they
give
customers
the
opportunity
to
opt
out
of
AI
use
and
22%
thinking
it
would
be
an
effective
step
to
take.
The
top
priority
for
organizations
was
to
ensure
a
human
is
involved
in
the
decision-making
(63%)
and
to
explain
how
the
applications
works
(60%).
Over
half
of
the
organizations
consider
explaining
how
the
application
works
(58%),
ensuring
human
involvement
in
decision-making
(55%),
and
adopting
AI
ethics
principles
as
an
effective
way
to
gain
customer
trust.

The
majority
of
respondents
(92%)
believe
their
organization
needs
to
do
more
to
reassure
customers
about
the
ways
their
data
would
be
used
with
AI.
Letting
the
user
opt-out
would
be
a
highly
effective
way.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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