Cisco’s recent report has revealed insights from 3,100 security professionals working on data privacy programmes at their organisations. Highlights from the study show that more than nine-in-10 (92%) security professionals admitted that they need to do more to reassure customers that their data is only being used for intended and legitimate purposes when it comes to the use of AI in their solutions.
Cisco’s 2023 Data Privacy Benchmark Study has revealed professionals’ perspectives on data privacy strategies. This year’s study finds that despite a difficult economic environment, organisations continue to invest in privacy, with spending up significantly from US$1.2 million just three years ago to US$2.7 million this year. Yet, 92% of respondents believe their organisation needs to do more to reassure customers about their data. The survey also finds a significant disconnect between data privacy measures by companies and what consumers expect from organisations, especially when it relates to how organisations apply and use Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Cisco 2022 Consumer Privacy Survey showed 60% of consumers are concerned about how organisations apply and use AI today and 65% already have lost trust in organisations over their AI practices. Consumers also said the top approach for making them more comfortable would be to provide opportunities for them to opt out of AI-based solutions. Yet, the privacy benchmark shows providing opt-out opportunities was selected least (22%) among the options organisations would put in place to reassure consumers.
Even though 96% of organisations believe they have processes in place to meet the responsible and ethical standards that customers expect for AI-based solutions and services, 92% of respondents believe their organisation needs to do more to reassure customers about their data.
Despite a difficult economic environment, organisations continue to invest in privacy, with spending up from US$1.2 million three years ago to US$2.7 million this year. Over 70% of organisations surveyed indicated they were getting ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ benefits from privacy investments, such as building trust with customers, reducing sales delays, or mitigating losses from data breaches. On average, organisations are getting benefits estimated to be 1.8 times spending and 94% of all respondents indicated they believe the benefits of privacy outweigh the costs overall.
With privacy as a critical business priority, more organisations recognise that everyone across their organisation plays a vital role in protecting data. This year, 95% of respondents said that ‘all of their employees’ need to know how to protect data privacy.
Privacy legislation plays an important role in enabling governments to hold organisations accountable for how they manage personal data and 157 countries (up from 145 last year) now have privacy laws in place. Even though complying with these laws involves significant effort and cost, 79% of all corporate respondents said privacy laws have had a positive impact.
Although 88% of respondents believe their data would be safer if stored only within their country or region, research indicates this does not hold up once costs, security and other trade-offs are considered. Remarkably, 90% also said that a global provider, operating at scale, can better protect the data compared to local providers.