Why US Consumers Are Concerned About the Internet of Things

How connected is the world you live in today? Whatever your answer, the truth is that it’s about to get a whole lot more inter-connected as the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution takes hold. Having spent more than a quarter of a century protecting security and privacy of our customers, we thought it would be a good idea to understand the attitudes of US consumers to this coming tech tsunami. Because only with this kind of insight can we focus our efforts in the right areas to continue protecting customers going forwards.

In this report we’ve managed to gain an unrivaled insight into what US consumers really think about security and privacy in the context of their increasingly connected lives. The results should force all industry stakeholders to take a step back and think before rushing headlong into IoT.

Endless possibilities

The Internet of Things promises to revolutionize the way we work and live. As billions of Internet-connected smart devices come online, sharing data with each other and their manufacturers, they have the capacity to create smarter homes, delivery more productive ways of working and even revolutionize healthcare.

But with these wonderful advances comes an important caveat. Personal user data will be shared on a scale never before seen – opening up potential privacy challenges. Then there are the smart systems themselves, some of which may become a target for hackers seeking to gain remote control or perform other nefarious tasks.

What do US consumers think?

With that in mind, here’s just a quick snapshot of what we found:

A significant number of US consumers (45%) said they’ve become more concerned about security and privacy over the past five years, primarily after becoming the victim of a data breach themselves US consumers are not convinced that the benefits of IoT outweigh privacy/security concerns. Some 46% said they did, but collectively 54% said they do not (39%) or are unsure (15%) The point above is all the more telling, because most consumers (68%) do understand that personal data is valuable to companies in order to market and sell to them Uncertainty over how data is collected, shared and stored could put many people off from using smart devices. Three quarters (74%) said they have little control over personal info in the IoT The problem is being compounded by a lack of information from IoT providers. A full 81% of respondents said they didn’t receive info on how their data was used, or weren’t sure Consumers are more concerned about security (75%) than privacy (44%) in the IoT – perhaps indicating a feeling of powerlessness about the latter

Time to think

When it comes to the rapid pace of technological change, there’s rarely time to draw a breath. However, our research has clearly shown consumers have reservations over the security and privacy of their personal data in the Internet of Things.

In many cases, it comes down to an issue of improving education and communication with customers, in order to build that bond of trust. But as an industry we also need to meet head on the clear challenge that, for many, the benefits of IoT still do not outweigh consumers’ major privacy and security concerns.

Click here to read the full report.

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