It’s heartening to see Google launch its recent ‘Good to Know’ campaign, which provides top tips to consumers on how to stay safe with their data online. Google is a business that understands the value of data and why its users need to keep it secure.
The initiative is particularly important at a time when the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has seen a 58% increase in data security breaches in the private sector reported to it so far in 2011/12, compared to the same period last year.
However, it needs to be pointed out that consumers could be to blame for some of these breaches. Research we have carried out among 3,000 consumers reveals that many aren’t being as good as they should be in protecting their data.
Some 56% admitted sharing passwords and pin numbers with others, and more than a fifth say they have more than ten accounts active online, with almost half using the same password for some or all of these accounts.
So, who is responsible for protecting consumer data? Is it consumers or the businesses they give their data to? Or is it both?
Only 30% of UK consumers think they are responsible for their own online security, according to research we carried out earlier this year. And, yet, when we asked brands “who is ultimately responsible for your customer’s data security?” most businesses, across all industry sectors surveyed, said it was the responsibility of both their customers and the brand. Obviously, there is a disconnect here between consumer and business expectations that needs to be addressed.
Along with the majority of organisations in our research, I believe that both consumers and brands have a responsibility to ensure consumer data is kept safe.
For brands this means not only having best practice data protection procedures in place, but if they engage with consumers, particularly in the online world, they have a duty to educate them on how to protect their data.
And if consumers are confident that their data is secure they are more likely to provide further insight to businesses, which in turn will improve targeting and ROI.
Chris Parkinson is group compliance director at Lateral Group
