Some 63% of people in the UK are suspicious about the way in which their data is used by companies, a survey has revealed.
Commissioned by Verint Systems Inc and conducted by analyst and consultancy firm Ovum and UK-based research company Opinium, the survey found that, globally, 48% of people are suspicious about how companies use their data.
More than 18,000 consumers across nine countries were surveyed and one in five of the respondents said they don’t trust any businesses to keep their information safe.
With 63% of respondents agreeing with the statement ‘I am suspicious over how brands use my personal data’, those in the UK were the most suspicious of all the nations surveyed, followed by Germany (61%), France (56%) and the USA (49%).
Some 49% of Australians agreed with the statement, followed by 44% in the Netherlands, 41% in South Africa, 41% in New Zealand and 28% in Poland.
Importance of data protection
Nick Nonini, managing director, EMEA, at Verint Enterprise Intelligence Solutions said: “Recent high-profile, data-related business cases have shed new light on the importance consumers attach to data protection.”
He went on to say organizations need to focus on building strong customer relationships that are based on trust.
“This comes down to getting the basics right, leveraging technology and analytics to better understand what is really on the minds of customers, and then working to help ensure the right resources are in place to address evolving needs, issues and requirements,” Nonini concluded.
New regulations
The results of this survey come in the wake of the approval by EU negotiators of new data protection rules back in December.
An agreement was made over the EU Data Protection Reform, which will see heavy fines levied on companies that suffer data breaches.
The new regulations are set to come into force in 2018, but further detail on what they are to entail are expected to be announced over the coming months.