Do you protect your customers’ privacy? Because they expect it – privacy protection | Media Pyro

Legislators regularly introduce and pass laws designed to protect the personal information people provide to companies and to regulate how companies can use that personal information. But how does a consumer feel about a business’s responsibility to protect their personal information?

GetApp¹ in the summer of 2022 conducted a survey on consumer privacy on the Internet. Surveyed over 1,000 adult Canadian consumers who shopped online at least once a month. The results are clear: consumers expect companies to protect their personal information, and their decision to do business with a company is influenced by its data protection practices.

Interesting and informative findings from the GetApp survey that businesses should take note of include:

• 33% of respondents said they are more concerned about the data privacy practices of online companies compared to last year.




• 41% of respondents said that companies are responsible for online privacy (while 35% believe that the federal government is responsible).




• 79% of respondents noted that consumers consider a company’s data privacy practices when deciding whether to do business with it. 19% of consumers “always” research a company’s reputation for data privacy before doing business with it.




• In the context of interacting with a company for the first time, 67% agreed to share their personal information with a company if it would lead to better and more efficient services or products. Willingness to share personal information was influenced by the type of information disclosed.




• More than half of respondents – 56% – said they would rather pay for a service than share personal information.




• A slight majority of surveyed consumers – 56% – indicated that they are confident that their personal information provided to an online company is safe. However, 33% partially disagree, and 10% strongly disagree. Only 7% said they were very confident in the security of their information.

Clearly, compliance with the law is an important reason for a privacy management program and data security safeguards. However, more compelling for a company is that failure to do so can cost you sales and lose customer trust in your company.

The following are the components of the privacy management program:

• A privacy officer who is responsible for the development and implementation of the organization’s privacy controls and their ongoing monitoring.




• Inventory of personal information.




• Policies, including collection, use and disclosure of personal information, consent requirements, and retention and deletion of personal information.




• Control of administrative, physical and technological security.




• Risk assessment tools.




• Training and education requirements for employees and contractors.




• Breach and Incident Response Procedures.




• Service provider management, including data protection agreements.

Long gone are the days when companies could ignore data management and security practices. This means unnecessarily exposing your organization to significant risks – both monetary and reputational.

Footnote

1 GetApp is an online resource for companies exploring Software as a Service (SaaS) products.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject. You should seek specialist advice regarding your specific circumstances.