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Consumers reveal they don’t trust firms to store their data

It may be necessary for firms to demonstrate trustworthiness if they are to get consumers’ approval.

Companies that need to collect consumers’ personal data might find they need to work harder to convince them they are being careful with it – and this could mean bringing in better storage systems.

We spotted a new poll that showed people are displaying a distinct lack of trust in the organisations they use, whether they are shops, banks or social networks.

Indeed, the Integralis poll discovered that 25 per cent of respondents don’t trust anyone to hold their personal details securely. For example, even though more than half do their grocery shopping online each week, just 24 per cent think their supermarket has a firm grasp on their data.

Only 36 per cent trusted big firms like Amazon and eBay – and even fewer were able to say this about credit card providers.

The biggest perceived threats were identity theft and viruses or malware, which 76 per cent and 61 per cent of those polled were worried about respectively.

"While UK consumers love going online to do their banking, shopping and social networking, there’s an intrinsic lack of trust in the sites they’re using," said Integralis’s Mick Ebsworth.

If this is the response to large, well-known companies, then it doesn’t bode very well for smaller firms that are using data. Have you thought about whether or not your customers trust you?

It could be time to start convincing them by displaying storage methods that they feel can be relied upon, such as encrypted cloud computing.

However, this may be quite difficult, as recently demonstrated by a Gartner report that revealed companies worldwide are wasting a total of $10 billion (£6.3 billion) by backing up and retaining data unnecessarily, Computer Weekly reported.

It suggests business owners don’t really know what needs to be securely stored and what doesn’t, so are just archiving everything.

To take a step towards resolving trust while not wasting valuable resources, give us a call at Dajon Data Management. We can implement offsite data storage and document scanning that will keep all your information safe while not slowing down your operations.