According to one survey, respondents’ trust levels had declined due to various personal and generally evident factors
Based on a commissioned survey of 14,009 general respondents on their sentiments about trusting digital services in 2024, a multinational corporation with interests in the defence, aerospace, cybersecurity and digital sectors has announced some findings from the data.
First, the data shows a widespread decline in respondents’ trust levels toward digital services across most industries compared to a similar survey in the previous year. In the Asia Pacific region (APAC), government services had topped the trust rankings at 47%, followed by banking at 44%, and healthcare at 38%. Globally, the data showed that only insurance, banking, and government sectors maintained or slightly improved their trust levels among respondents, with no sector achieving over 50% approval for handling personal data. This coincided with 19% of APAC respondents reporting a personal data compromise in the past year, matching the global average.
Second, privacy concerns had influenced consumer behavior, particularly in APAC respondents, where 71% had cited abandoning brands in the last 12 months due to unease over data usage. Also, 31% had cited excessive demands for personal information as the primary reason, making it the top factor for switching brands across most respondents from APAC. Additionally, 82% of the respondents had indicated they expect data privacy rights from online entities, also 61% had felt overburdened by the responsibility to protect their own data, with only 32% trusting organizations to use it responsibly.
Other findings
Third, about 65% of APAC respondents had indicated that their confidence in a brand would rise if it adopted technologies such as passwordless authentication, biometrics, multifactor authentication, and responsible AI. Also:
- News media organizations ranked the lowest, with only 3% of respondents trusting them to handle personal data responsibly. This sentiment was similarly extended to social media platforms and sectors like logistics and automotive, each rated by only 4% of participants.
- Globally, bad bots were identified by respondents as a growing issue, as they were viewed as degrading customer experiences by manipulating purchasing processes.
- 60% or more of APAC respondents had reported frustrations with online queues, price fluctuations, or website downtime.
- 3% was the trust ranking of the automotive sector among APAC respondents, the lowest in the regional data.
- On year, trust in government services had risen by 5% to 42%, bucking a downward.
- 75% of respondents consumers cited prioritizing passwordless authentication, with 64% favoring multi-factor authentication, 51% biometrics, and 48% passkeys to boost their confidence
- Respondents in the UAE (90%), India (82%), and Brazil (76%) had the highest levels of understanding about how their data was being used, while those in Japan had the lowest (52%).
According to Andy Zollo, Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific and Japan), Thales, the firm that commissioned the survey: “One area that does not remain stagnant is the threat landscape”, referring to respondents being “more aware than ever before of online threats, and the consequences of their data falling into the wrong hands. As cyber threats evolve so does consumer skepticism, and brands must continuously adapt their security measures to stay ahead and rebuild confidence.”
*from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom (UK), and the USA. The date(s) and respondent-profiles of the surveys have not been specified.
