In a blow for an industry which is attempting to improve its public reputation, car dealers have topped a list of organisations not trusted by consumers to keep their private data safe. 46 per cent of respondents to a poll carried out on behalf of data company Experian said they least trusted car dealers, ahead of insurance companies (34 per cent), internet companies (33 per cent), and national and local government (32 per cent). Banks were mistrusted by only 15 per cent of those surveyed.
The consequences of mishandling are potentially severe, with 65 per cent of respondents saying they would never again buy from an organisation which failed to safeguard their data, 52 per cent saying they would spread word of data protection shortcomings to friends and family, and 24 per cent going so far as to state that they would seek advice from a lawyer. Darryl Bowman, commercial director of Experian’s credit monitoring and identity fraud protection service CreditExpert said: “Personal experience of identity fraud and the publicity surrounding recent data breaches that affecting many thousands of people means that more of us have become concerned about the capability of the organisations we deal with to hold personal data securely. “The research shows a clear demand from consumers and employees to be put back in control of their personal information. “People should not have to wait for a data breach to happen before action is taken – they should have the power to monitor their personal information hands-on and nip any potential attempts at identity fraud in the bud.” |