Building a slide deck, pitch, or presentation? Here are the big takeaways:

  • 85% of consumers say businesses should be doing more to actively protect their data. — IBM, 2018
  • Only 20% of consumers say they completely trust the organizations they interact with to maintain the privacy of their data. — IBM, 2018

Consumers are increasingly concerned over their data privacy and security when deciding what products and services to use, according to a new survey from IBM conducted by the Harris Poll.

Some 78% of the 10,000 consumers surveyed said that a company’s ability to keep their data private is “extremely important.” However, only 20% said they “completely trust” the organizations they interact with to maintain the privacy of their information.

Further, company data privacy policies impact a customer’s decision to purchase their products. Some 75% of consumers said they will not buy a product–no matter how great the product is–from a company if they don’t trust that company to protect their data.

SEE: Electronic data retention policy (Tech Pro Research)

These results highlight that companies must build security measures into company policies and products from the start if they want to gain and keep customers’ business and trust.

Some 85% of consumers said that businesses should be doing more to actively protect their data. And 73% said they think businesses are focused more on profits than on addressing consumers’ security concerns and needs.

“Increasingly, we are seeing companies around the world trying to balance providing personalized services to consumers, while maintaining privacy,” John Kelly, IBM senior vice president of cognitive solutions, said in a press release. “Getting this right requires companies working closely with each other and, importantly, with governments, to ensure the right protections are in place.”