New Ponemon Study — data breaches from the consumer’s perspective
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by Doug Pollack
The Ponemon Institute today released a new study, sponsored by ID Experts, titled “Consumers Report Card on Data Breach Notification“. They describe the rationale and importance of this study as follows:
“It is well established that identity theft has become a very serious issue for Americans. But how well are organizations responding to consumers’ worries when their personal information is lost as the result of a data breach? We decided to conduct this study to find out if consumers who received notification about a data breach involving their personal information were satisfied with the organizations’ response and transparency. In other words, if the consumers had the ability to issue a report card on the current status of data breach notification would it be A for excellent or F for failing?”
The report provides a wealth of useful information to companies in order to effectively plan for a data breach response effort. Given an earlier Ponemon study estimate that around two-thirds of the $197 per person average cost of a data breach is in lost business and reputation, this report can assist companies in evaluating how elements of their data breach response effort can influence their customer retention rates and thereby attempt to reduce this very critical component of the cost equation.
Dr. Larry Ponemon states that:
“Data breach notifications are a failure if individuals do not have a clear understanding of their level of risk, available support, and the steps they need to take to respond to the loss of theft of their personal information. Our research strongly suggests that legal compliance is the primary goal of many companies’ notification efforts. This approach does not serve the best interests of consumers and contributes to a breakdown of trust that can impact a company monetarily as a result of increase in customer defection.”
To download a copy of this study, visit the ID Experts website and click on the New Ponemon Study link.
