Data privacy survey in Singapore shines spotlight on Privacy Era

data privacy
Image credit | Maridav/bigstockphoto.com

We have said before that we are now entering the Privacy Era as the issue is becoming emotional and stressful. A survey from Opentext into attitudes about data privacy in Singapore backs up the notion that consumers are worried. During April and May this year, the company polled 1,000 people.

The most telling statistic is that only 11% of respondents trust the ability of organisations to keep their data safe and private. Most people (74%) have no idea how organisations keep their data, or where and how they store it. This includes bank details and email addresses. 18% believe it is the responsibility of the organisation to keep their data safe and private, a third of respondents would get in touch with an organisation to find this information out and 17% have done so already.

The conclusion of the survey is that organisations need to step up their game plan when it comes to this current and increasingly important issue. Business leaders need to focus on technology and processes that are visible and secure and then communicate with their customers about how they are protecting their data privacy.

If they do not, then as well as facing fines from authorities, they face losing customers. As an example, more and more people are changing their browsers because of stories about how their data is being used and abused.

Whilst there is the unwritten law that states that organisations can use users’ data in exchange for ‘free’ services, it is a shame that they were not transparent from the beginning. If customers had been told from the start that their data could be used to provide them with relevant and timely offers, or they had to pay to access the internet, we would not be in this position.

As it is, we are where we are and the pandemic has brought the problem into sharp focus, not least because once customers have been deprived of their data privacy, it will be almost impossible to get it back.

As the data from Singapore shows, it is a real and current issue and the industry needs to take some positive action to reassure customers that it takes data privacy extremely seriously.

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