According to Survey, the Vast Majority of Americans View Privacy as a Human Right

KPMG recently published a report which surveyed American consumers on their attitudes toward data privacy and what they expect from corporations in terms of the consumer data protection.

The survey results clearly show that data privacy and protection have become top priorities for the American consumers.  Even though the United States, unlike Europe, has not traditionally treated privacy as a basic human right, 87% of the survey respondents characterized privacy as a human right and 97% said that privacy is important to them.  When asked to prioritize a list of activities companies should pursue as part of their corporate social responsibility agenda, data responsibility  came in second, behind only improving labor/work policies.

Other highlights in the report include the following:

• Americans are paying attention to and becoming more educated about how businesses are using consumer data. For example, 70% of the respondents were familiar with how companies collect their personal data, 64% were familiar with how companies use and store data, 63% with how they protect it, and 57% with how they sell it.

• Consumers still harbor suspicions about what companies are doing with their data. 68% of the respondents do not trust companies to sell their data and over 50% do not trust companies to use their personal data in an ethical way, to ethically collect personal data, and to protect personal data.

• With respect to data breaches, consumers’ biggest worry is about potential theft of their Social Security numbers, followed by credit card numbers and passwords.

• Only 16% of the respondents were concerned with their medical records being stolen, whereas 57% trust companies to protect their medical data. At the same time, the vast majority of the consumers were willing to sacrifice some privacy with respect to the COVID-19 medical data in order to combat the spread of the decease.  For example, 85% of the respondents would be willing to share their COVID diagnosis with their employer.

• Although the American consumers are concerned about their privacy, they knowingly continue to engage in risky cyber behavior. For example, 43% use the same password for multiple accounts, even though 78% consider this practice to be a cybersecurity risk.  The majority of consumers also do not use computer security software and multi-factor authentication.

The survey results reflect the American consumers’ changing attitudes about privacy and data protection.   Consumers expect companies to be proactive in developing privacy protection frameworks and to prioritize giving consumers more control over their data.  Organizations that see privacy only through the lens of compliance risk ceding their business to companies that make protecting privacy of their consumers their top goal and meet that goal with transparent and consistently followed privacy practices.

 Ask Clarip today how we can solve your biggest privacy compliance pain points, Call Clarip at 1-888-252-5653