61% of People Know Nothing About What Companies Do With Their Data, New Global Survey Shows

Today, Publicis Sapient, the Digital Business Transformation consultancy, launched its Data Collection and Consent Survey, which measures consumer sentiment and sensitivity around data privacy. The findings revealed 61% of participants across all five countries know little to nothing about what companies actually do with their data, and 40% of participants globally say their data is worth more than the services they currently receive.

Key takeaways from the survey:

●      61% of global participants know almost nothing about what companies do with their data. Those who know more about what companies do with personal data tend to see the benefit of companies collecting their data.

●      32% of global participants are more willing to share all types of data if companies could easily delete their data.

●      While the majority in nearly all five countries say technology has a positive impact, they worry that the data companies collect can be harmful, and roughly 40% of participants in each country say their data is worth more than the services they currently receive.

●      Based on levels of knowledge, consumers are more willing to share different types of data. 41% of participants were comfortable sharing their race & ethnicity, but only 9% were willing to share their country issued identification, such as a social security card or driver’s license.

Max Kirby, Customer Data Platform Practice Lead at Publicis Sapient, said, “There is a clear connection between a person’s familiarity with data and their willingness to share valuable information. Our research indicated that privacy-sensitivity is emerging as a new form of personalization, reflecting how a business approaches a high-privacy sensitivity customer versus a low-sensitivity customer. In order to detect a customer’s level of privacy-sensitivity, identities must be resolved across multiple data sources using a Customer Data Platform in tandem with a Consent Management System.”

44% of Americans are most comfortable sharing basic personal data, followed by 34% Australians and 32% Britons; however, all countries feel less comfortable sharing Bio, Digital, and Issued data. Germans are particular about who they share their personal data with, while Australians are most willing to share personal data with Financial Services and Health. Although Britons are less comfortable sharing general personal data, they are willing to share this data with most industries.

These are the findings of Publicis Sapient’s Data Collection and Consent survey. It was conducted between June 18 - 30th, 2020, in the United States and between July 24 - August 7th, 2020, in Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Publicis Sapient commissioned Ipsos, a global market research company, to survey 5,007 adults aged 18+ from these markets.

Publicis Sapient is a technology company that provides enterprise AI platforms and services. With over 30 years of digital business transformation experience, we enable enterprise clients to transform how they operate and serve their customers, unlocking new value and enabling them to thrive in an AI-driven world. Our platforms Sapient Slingshot, Sapient Bodhi and Sapient Sustain use AI built off this deep enterprise context to help organizations modernize their legacy tech systems, build agentic solutions, and automate their IT operations. The combination of our AI platforms and the expertise of our people enables us to deliver faster and more effective outcomes through solutions that are specific to the unique needs of our clients’ businesses, their industries and their customers. Publicis Sapient is the technology hub of Publicis Groupe, uniting 20,000 people worldwide across 28 countries. For more information, visit publicissapient.com.

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