New Study Finds Consumers Will Trade Privacy for Access to Services

A new report from Strategy Analytics suggests that consumers are willing to put up with data breaches and privacy violations for the sake of convenience. The firm’s researchers found that while most people underestimated how much of their personal information – including biometric information – was available to corporate entities, they didn’t mind sharing that information to gain access to the services those companies offer.

In that regard, it is noteworthy that consumers seem to have accepted the fact that their data will not be protected, especially when using services like Facebook or Amazon Alexa. The two-part study was put together through online focus groups and a survey of US and UK consumers, and the respondents simply did not trust large enterprises to keep their personal information safe.

“Even with companies with questionable practices, extensive media coverage of privacy issues and widespread data breaches, consumers are not likely to abandon apps that they see as having value to them,” said Research Director and report author Chris Schreiner.

Despite their wariness, regulatory efforts like GDPR did make UK consumers feel safer than their American counterparts. The UK’s tax authority has already been forced to change its policies to meet the new standard, a fact that likely contributed to that sense of security.

The American respondents indicated that they would support similar legislation in the US.

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September 11, 2019 – by Eric Weiss