The privacy paradox is the disconnect between consumer concerns about privacy and their actual actions to protect it.
Given the extent of the global data privacy crisis, protecting the privacy of your sensitive data online should now be an essential aspect of daily life. But clearly not everyone is doing it.
One significant study of the privacy paradox—or the “dichotomy between privacy attitude and behavior”—couldn’t categorically assign a cause for it, but we believe the explanation might be that some consumers:
- value the convenience of invasive data tracking and personalized ads and experiences over the privacy of their sensitive information
- find old habits difficult to break
- feel overwhelmed by where to start to proactively protect their data feel powerless against the data gathering machine (Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon etc).
Back in 2019, an IBM Institute for Business Value survey showed 81 percent of US consumers had grown more concerned about how companies were using data, and 87 percent believed organizations should face stronger regulations on personal data management. Yet 71 percent still said they would give up their privacy to access products and services, and only 45 percent had updated their privacy settings in response to data protection concerns.
Of course, also in 2019, Cisco discovered the new ‘privacy actives’, a growing cohort that’s flying the flag for data privacy. They’re highly motivated privacy-aware individuals. They care about privacy, are willing to act to protect theirs, and many have already done so. The 2019 Cisco Consumer Privacy Survey found 32 per cent or one-third of respondents were in this new privacy-savvy cohort that is quickly becoming a highly attractive market segment for brands.
Let’s hope the privacy actives win the day, and the privacy paradox fades away. It’s certainly what we predict will happen this decade.
If you’re moving into the privacy actives camp, you’ll need MySudo. Download MySudo in iOS or Android.
