Social media companies believed to be vulnerable, with 61% of consumers saying they pose the greatest risk for exposing data

Consumers’ concern on how companies protect their data increased. Source: shutterstock.com

A majority of consumers are willing to walk away from businesses entirely if they suffer a data breach, with retailers most at risk, according to research from Gemalto. Two-thirds (66%) are unlikely to shop or do business with an organization that experiences a breach where their financial and sensitive information is stolen. Retailers (62%), banks (59%), and social media sites (58%) are the most at risk of suffering consequences with consumers prepared to use their feet.

Surveying 10,500 consumers globally, Gemalto found that, across all ages, 93% are placing the blame squarely on businesses and would think about acting against them. Social media sites worry consumers most, with 61% concerned companies in this space don’t adequately protect consumer data, followed by banking websites (40%).

Source: gemalto.com

With the rising awareness of data protection and data privacy issues, consumers now believe the majority (70%) of responsibility for protecting their data rests on the company holding it. This has made data protection a major consideration for consumers when interacting with a brand, with 82% wanting organizations to have greater online security measures. These concerns are prompted by 91% believing that there are applications and websites they currently use which pose a risk to the protection and security of their personally identifiable information.

Despite consumers placing the responsibility firmly in the hands of organizations, only a quarter feel as though companies take the protection and security of customer data very seriously. Taking matters into their own hands, consumers are not giving businesses anywhere to hide, as the majority of respondents have either already provided organizations with feedback on what security methods they are offering (35%), have considered it (19%) or might in the future (33%).

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