People trust banks most with their personal data: Survey

According to new research by nCipher Security, which reveals that people trust banks and other financial entities to safeguard their personal data more than other organizations.

The nCipher survey results show that people trust the financial sector in general and their banks in particular more than any other industry vertical or organizations that touch their data. A third of those surveyed said they trust financial services organizations most to protect their personal data. More than half (52 percent) said they trust their banks specifically to protect their data.

This indicates that people place much higher trust in banks and other financial institutions than they do in other business verticals and the public sector. Less than a quarter (23 percent) of those surveyed trust organizations in the legal profession to handle their data. And only about 20 percent of the survey participants said they trust their cellular provider or the government to secure their personal data.

“Banks and other financial organizations are in a relatively strong position when it comes to consumer trust related to personal data privacy and security. But, as the nCipher research illustrates, people are generally on edge when it comes to protecting their personal data. Organizations that want to maintain the trust they’ve worked so hard to build – and those that need to win back customer confidence – must make sure they have the protection in place to safeguard customer data. That involves creating cybersecurity strategies that employ well implemented privacy-by-design mechanisms such as encryption to keep customers’ personal data safe and retain their trust,” says Peter Galvin, Chief Strategy Officer at nCipher Security.