Privacy Concerns: Marketers should "think like a bank"

Consumers remain anxious about how their personal data is used but a recent study by McCann Worldwide's McCann Truth Central found that it's a complex issue.

Consumers have varying levels of concern depending on the type of personal information they share, e.g. personal, medical, financial, shopping. As might be expected, information regarding health and finances is cautiously shared while data related to shopping activity is less guarded.

According to McCann's study 71% of consumers are willing to trade shopping data, but most want to be compensated for it. In fact, 86% of consumers said they see major benefits resulting from sharing data with businesses online and almost a third (65%) said a major benefit was access to promotions and discounts.

However, access to their data comes with a few expectations. Over half (55%) of consumers want a commitment from businesses that data they share won't be passed on to third parties and 51% want to know how their data will be used.

Control is important too. Half (49%) want to have a say in which data is shared and how.

Laura Simpson, Global Director of McCann Truth Central, said marketers should take heed of how financial institutions and credit card companies approach privacy. These businesses are the two most trusted of all categories due to their history of handling sensitive personal data.

"Our advice for marketers? Think like a bank," said Simpson.

Tags: consumer insight, data collection, data sharing, financial data, online privacy, personal data