A current survey conducted by the US-firm Frog shows that data protection significantly matters for Germans. However, when compared internationally they know surprisingly little about data storage. In the online-study 900 consumers from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, China and India were asked about their personal assessment regarding data protection and storage, with the following results:
- In international comparison, Germans value their personal data the most, particularly concerning the storage of health and credit card information as well as official data.
- At the same time, Germans were least knowable concerning data collection and their virtual data traces on the internet. As such, only few could answer the question, which personal data they had recently revealed online according to their own judgment.
- German consumers are especially reluctant to share personal information with companies. 80% said they would prefer to maintain their privacy when dealing with businesses online.
Timothy Morey, chief executive of Frog’s innovation branch, commented on the study: “Usually companies are vague, to say the least, when it comes to which data they collect. Given the worst case, they simply collect and store any piece of information. (…) If companies do not start to guarantee data safety for their customers by themselves, legislators all over the world will take action instead.”
Further information can be found here.
Source: Harvard Business Review