Consumers would like to see privacy laws like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enacted in the US, according to a recent survey.
The Cambridge Analytica breach could be major turning point in the way consumers feel about their data privacy according to the Consumer Attitudes Toward Data Privacy Survey. Janrain, a provider of customer identity and access management (CIAM), queried over 1,000 U.S.-based consumers.
Nearly all of the people surveyed (94%) reported being generally concerned about their data, while 57% said the breach made them even more concerned about data privacy than they had been in the past.
“One thing history has shown us time and time again is that irresponsible business will hurt public trust,” said Jim Kaskade, CEO at Janrain. “Over the past few years, consumers had been reporting growing acceptance of allowing businesses to use their personal data in order to provide personalised products, services and experiences. However, that does not mean that you treat it any differently than financial or health information, which is highly regulated. The recent news surrounding Cambridge Analytica has awakened people to the fact that they value their social data as much as they do any other personal data. Now the question is whether businesses will begin to self-regulate to address this fact.”
The survey shows many American consumers are open to regulations designed to give them greater control over how businesses use their personal data. Of those surveyed, 69% said they would like to see privacy laws like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enacted in the US.
When asked which of the GDPR provisions they’d most like to see enacted in the US, 38% responded with the ability to control how their data is used while 39% favored the “right to be forgotten” rule, which requires organisations to delete data they may have on a European user should the user ask.
“The good news is the Cambridge Analytica data misuse has brought a lot more awareness to the data privacy issue, which will force a hard new look at how personal data is being handled by businesses in the US,” continued Kaskade. “Ultimately, many experts agree (as do we at Janrain) that this will create more transparency in the use and protection of data, restore consumer faith in brands, and create stronger relationships that benefit both the business and consumer.”
Earlier this month, a report found that 60% of businesses are likely to miss the GDPR compliance deadline next month. The survey of tech decision makers, compiled by Crowd Research Partners, found that fewer than 40% are confident that their organisations will be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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