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VeriSign: European Consumers claim businesses fail to protect their personal information Online
March 2008 by Emmanuelle Lamandé
European consumers have hit back at institutions including banks and credit companies by claiming that not enough is being done to safeguard their personal information online, according to a YouGov survey published today by VeriSign, Inc.
The pan-European survey on consumers’ attitudes to online security shows that European online users cite their bank as the Web site they most visit, followed by retail shopping sites. As many as 80 percent Danish, 77 percent Swedish, 72 percent French, 65 percent British, and 57 percent German online users regularly log onto banking and other Web sites, where they share personal information at least once a week - if not more often.
When asked if institutions such as the government and banks were doing enough to safeguard a user’s personal information online, 57 percent of the UK population replied with a resounding no. Nearly half of the German population (44 percent) also responded with similar sentiments, followed by Sweden (31 percent), France (27 percent) and Denmark (20 percent) also claiming not enough is being done.
With European Internet users putting up to £820 billion1 at risk by sharing personal data on Web sites that are either not secure or poorly protected, there is a high level of concern about online data security. The following percentage of consumers surveyed in their respective regions is worried about identity theft:
•78 percent in the UK
•79 percent in Germany
•70 percent in France
•41 percent in Denmark
•55 percent in Sweden
The research of Europe’s online users also questioned who should be responsible for protecting customers’ personal information online. The survey showed that at least half of respondents in each of the countries felt that it was the organisations’ (banks, credit card companies and Web sites) responsibility - UK (51 percent), France (75 percent), Sweden (52 percent), Germany (51 percent) and Denmark (45 percent).
Danilo Labovic, VeriSign SSL Manager, commented, “With increasing frequency, we are seeing more and more theft of consumer’s personal information. The study shows that online customers are becoming more aware of the risks involved in passing on their details over sites that may not be secure. It is the organisations themselves that will fail to benefit as they will lose out on an increasingly sceptical customer base who expect their online safety to be taken care of.”
¹ This figure was derived by combining the average exposure level for European citizens as researched by YOUGOV with the current adult Internet connected population of each country.
