2008 Study on the Uncertainty of Data Breach Detection: Report of IT Practitioners in the United Kingdom

It is extremely important for an organization's trusted relationship with its customers to understand as precisely as possible who has had his or her personal data compromised. First, the process of notifying every customer of a data breach that perhaps involved only a portion of these individuals can be an unnecessary and major expense. Second, it demonstrates that the organization was not fully capable of understanding what personal data was at risk when the breach occurred. This uncertainty reflects poorly on how competent the organization is in understanding how personal information is used throughout the enterprise. Ultimately this perception could affect customer loyalty and trust.