Cisco published its 2022 Consumer Privacy Survey – an annual global review of consumers’ perceptions and behaviours on data privacy. This year’s survey highlights the critical need for further transparency as consumers say their top priority is for organisations to be more transparent on how they use their personal data. The survey also showed that while, in theory, consumers are supportive of AI (with 54% willing to share their anonymised data to improve AI products), many (65%) have lost trust in organisations due to their use of AI.
This year, 81% of respondents agreed that the way an organisation treats personal data is indicative of how it views and respects its customers – the highest percentage since Cisco began tracking it in 2019.
Consumers are increasingly taking action
In response to the erosion of trust in organisations’ ability to protect data, many consumers are taking action to better protect their data themselves including:
- Over three-quarters (76%) say they would not buy from a company that they do not trust with their data
- Only 37% indicated they had indeed switched providers over data privacy practices
- Just over half (53%) say they manage their cookie settings from a website before accepting
- While 46% of those with a home listening device say they turn it off regularly to protect their privacy
Disconnect between business and consumers when it comes to AI
Ever-evolving technologies make it difficult for consumers to trust companies with their data. Most respondents believe the potential benefits of AI outweigh the risk, provided proper de-identification is in place, with 54% willing to share their anonymised personal data to help improve AI-based products and decision-making.
However, there is a disconnect between businesses and consumers: while 87% of organisations believe they have processes in place to ensure automated decision-making is done in accordance with customer expectations, 60% of respondents expressed concern about how organisations are using their personal data for AI. Powerful steps organisations can take to address this include giving consumers the opportunity to opt-out of the AI application and explain how their AI application works.
Desire for government to play a primary role
Finally, more than half said national or local governments should play the primary role when it comes to protecting consumers’ data. Many consumers do not trust private companies to be responsible for personal data.
As governments and organisations continue to demand protections on data transferred outside their national borders, more are putting in place data localisation requirements, demanding data to be physically stored in the country or region where it was collected. Yet data localisation comes at a price. The Cisco 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study reported that 88% of surveyed organisations experience significant additional operational costs due to data localisation. Consumers are evenly split on the value of data localisation (41% in favour, 41% against) if it adds cost to the products and services they buy.