Fishburn Hedges

11.03.2011

In this session, we spoke to a cross section of consumers to explore how they feel about giving away personal information or data, in particular to private-sector organisations.   

We looked at the common fears and concerns they have when giving out information, and the ways in which businesses can address them in order to secure our trust.

Three main pointers emerged for organisations to reassure people when they are asking for, holding or using their data:

• Justification: be clear and open about why giving you any information will be of benefit to your customers.
• Statement of intent: be clear about who will be using the information and what it will be used for.  Do not hide this in pages of small print that nobody reads and everyone mistrusts.
• Security: set out in plain language what security measures you have in place.  There have been too many ‘lost data’ stories for people to believe that any data is ever wholly secure.  They will though be reassured that you take it seriously, and that they will be protected if anything does happen.

Which personal information is important?

How we define ‘personal data’ is broad and subjective, but concerns about sharing it fall broadly into two categories. 

Rational: firstly, we all have rational worries about parting with personal information, as it can leave us vulnerable to ID theft, being robbed and the like. 

Emotional: the second set of concerns are emotional - a general uneasiness about information being ‘out there’. This relates particularly to situational information such as relationship status or location, rather than ‘hard data’ such as a credit card number. 

Perhaps surprisingly, many were less worried about parting with banking details as bank accounts are insured and if the worst happens they will be reimbursed.  Instead, they were more worried about parting with more ‘intrusive’ personal information about their lifestyle habits.

Some types of information, such as medical conditions, provoke both rational and emotional concerns. Rationally, many were worried that health insurance companies would use this information and to hike up premiums or refuse cover later in life.  Emotionally, medical histories also fall into the ‘intrusive’ category of private information.

Who do we trust?

Overall we have greater expectations of Government to treat private information responsibly.  It is seen as having a responsibility to uphold the interests of individuals and to protect our information.

Unfortunately its track record of information being left in public or accidentally published online makes us cynical about its ability to do this effectively.

Perhaps surprisingly, the group was more sanguine about giving information to the corporate sector.  We understand that businesses use our information for their own benefit.  We also know that it’s in their interests to provide us with incentives to give them our data – and to keep it safe.  It’s a question of give and take, which we accept.

We may trust businesses more than the Government, but we are still naturally cynical about why they want our information and what they do with it.

We are starting to demand more control.  Organisations must communicate how and why they are using our data, as trust is borne out of transparency and feeling that we, the consumers, are in control of our personal information.

Feeling in control?

During the discussion we saw two groups emerge, those who feel in control of their personal information and how organisations use it, and those who do not.

These two groups have a varying propensity to share personal information with businesses. 

The first group, who do not feel in control tend to see only the worst outcome from sharing information.  They worry about parting with their data and assume that somehow they will lose out or be ripped off.

The second group are those who feel they are in control and that ultimately they decide who sees their personal information. They recognise the benefits of sharing it and feel at ease parting with information if it means they can enjoy the benefits, such as offers on the products they regularly buy at the supermarket.

What can businesses learn?

The digital age has thrown the issue of privacy into the spotlight, but everyone in the group acknowledged that information about us has always been ‘out there’.  Although the online world has brought a greater capacity to share information, the issues have not changed. 

On or off-line, our willingness to share data is still about trust in a brand and the strength of a company’s reputation.

There are simple things organisations can do to help build this reputation: clearly displaying their compliance with universal standards, independent third-party endorsements and less, more succinct, text explaining their security policy.  These all help demonstrate an open and trustworthy organisation that will protect our information.

For businesses, the message is clear: the more transparent you are, the more we understand how, why and where our data is being used and the less uneasy we feel.

As consumers we are more likely to part with more of our data when we feel in control of how it is being used and what’s in it for us. For any business that can reassure us that we’re in the driving seat, the opportunities are great.

 

online privacy and earning trust from Fishburn Hedges on Vimeo.

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