Research from OpenText reveals the growing level of concern among Singaporeans over the privacy and protection of personal data since the start of the pandemic.
The survey findings demonstrate an overall lack of knowledge about what specific data is stored and for what reason, as well as a lack of trust in how organizations store and manage that data. The key to restoring that trust lies in better information governance and protection, combining a robust Enterprise Information Management strategy with multi-layered security and data protection that provides greater assurance and delivers an information advantage.
Survey highlights
With pandemic life over the last two-plus years being accompanied by the widespread adoption of remote working, a general shift to doing everyday activities online and the government roll-out of digital solutions such as Singapore TraceTogether, Singaporeans are becoming warier of those that have access to their personal data. So much so that almost nine in ten (85%) say they have new concerns about how organizations are using their data since the pandemic began.
Such is the strength of these concerns that two in five (39%) say they’d no longer use or buy from a company they were previously loyal to if it failed to protect or leaked their personal data. In addition, seven in 10 (69%) would be willing to pay more to use or buy from an organization that was expressly committed to protecting personal data.
New era of concern
As the world emerges from the worst of the global health crisis, Singaporeans are increasingly concerned about how their data is being managed and protected in this new normal. In fact, nine in 10 (89%) worry more about their personal data now that organizations operate distributed work models, with two in five (39%) expecting those organizations to ensure everything is secure, no matter where their employees work from.
On top of that, now that the use of apps such as TraceTogether is no longer mandatory, for example, two in five Singaporeans (39%) are concerned their data won’t be deleted even when it’s not needed to combat COVID-19.
“Since the pandemic took hold in early 2020, consumers’ concerns around where and how their personal data is being used is on the rise,” said Sandy Ono, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at OpenText. “We are also now living in a time of unprecedented regulatory change with stringent data privacy regulations growing and evolving rapidly around the world. While the need to protect personal information has become mission-critical across all industry sectors and brings multiple compliance challenges, it also presents an opportunity. In protecting customers’ data, organizations can safeguard customer trust, ensure continued brand loyalty and in so doing deliver an information advantage.”
The trust still isn’t there
Data privacy clearly matters to consumers, even though more than a third (34%) don’t actually know what specific data is used, stored and accessed by organizations.
