FullContact Q1 2020 Consumer Privacy Preference Report

Consumers on CCPA and Privacy

With the advent of the CCPA at the beginning of 2020 and other states rolling out their own privacy laws, consumers no longer expect to just give all of their personal data to companies. 

In California, 56% of Californians were aware that the California Consumer Privacy Act went into effect on January 1, 2020, and a massive 80% of California consumers plan on opting out of their information being shared. 

Trust is the key to data retention and relationships, with a combined 35% of California consumers plan on opting out of their information being shared, but only from companies that they don’t trust.

Looking Beyond California 

When looking beyond California, nearly two-thirds (73%) of respondents said they would opt-out of their information being shared if given the option, and 36% of respondents outside of California would opt-out from sharing their information only from companies they don’t trust. 

Who is Responsible for Privacy and Personal Data?

Interest in the privacy of personal data increased in the back half of the decade, with 81% of Californians and non-Californians alike saying their concern has increased over the past few years. 

Opinion is split nearly in half over who should be the arbiter for safekeeping data privacy. 54% believe that the government should be responsible for protecting our data privacy, while the other 46% of the country believes the onus falls on businesses. 

Regardless of who they believe should protect data privacy, 80% have taken steps to secure their data including changing privacy settings, removing social media accounts, declining terms of service, and more. 

All Industries Are Not Trusted Equally

With increased concern over data privacy issues, the industries that foster the most trust in their customers will flourish while others look to be in trouble of dying on the vine. 

Banks and financial institutions inspire the most confidence, with 70% of the country trusting them to keep their data private. The healthcare industry isn’t far behind, with  58% of people believe that they know how to protect consumer data. 

Despite that over half the country believes the government should be in charge of data protection, only 44% trust the government or state agencies to keep said data private. 

Internet and cable providers are one of the least trusted industries, only 19% of people trust them to keep their data privacy. They’re followed closely by the retail industry which only foments trust in 16% of people. 

If retail brands are going to turn their bad reputation around, they would do well to partner with a company that focuses on personalized customer experience, privacy, and security. The challenge of trust is noteworthy for the retail industry given how many customers have loyalty to brands, but not much trust. It’s worth considering how much more business could be driven if retail brands earned more of their customers’ trust than they currently have. 

But the least trusted industries are oil/gas/energy and social media companies, tieing at 15% of people saying they trust them to keep data private, and travel companies at 12%. The irony here, of course, is how much private data we give regularly up to travel and social media companies. 

Transparency is the Way Forward

Trust is a huge factor as to whether people will engage with a company–81% are not confident that social media companies will keep their data secure, leading 53% to say that they use social media less because of those privacy concerns. 

Only half of those surveyed say that they know that information of theirs is being collected by businesses and data companies, but more than 90% would like the right to tell organizations not to share or sell their information, the right to know where and to whom their data is being sold, the right to opt-out of their data being used by businesses, with 95% saying they would like to the right to have their data erased or deleted.