The Braze Privacy Data Report provides useful insights toward understanding U.S. consumers’ (n=2,000) and marketer executives’ (n=500) opinions regarding personal data usage and privacy. 

The findings are insightful. 

Marketers should start to take action now, and prepare themselves for the rise of the self-sovereign individual. 

Individuals expect transparency

According to the study, individuals want transparency. They want to know, 

Marketers agree (99%), but what consumers and marketers don’t agree on is the value exchange and who should be in control of the policies and rules for privacy and personal information management & oversight.

Ignoring privacy concerns will hurt the bottom line

Marketers beware!

The Braze report notes that 84% of U.S. adults have decided against engaging a brand due to personal information requests, and 71% did so more than once; and, 75% stopped engaging with a company all together over privacy concerns. 

The message is clear, properly handling privacy will have a positive impact on the bottom line, and not doing so will be detrimental. 

Value exchange is possible

People are open to exchanging their personal information, but they want something in return; 71% of consumers will share their personal information in exchange for value: 

• 60% in exchange for cash; a 2018 study by SYZYGY suggested this could be as much as $150 USD (The Price of Personal Data, 2018)
• 26% for product and incentives
• 21% for free content. 

We see a gap here between consumers and marketing executives, as only 31% of marketing executives believe consumers should receive cash in exchange for personal data. 

The privacy expectation gap

Again, we have a privacy expectations gap in the U.S.; the report finds that 82% of U.S. adults say privacy is important to them, while only 29% of marketing executives hold the same opinion. 

It is time for the market to listen and begin to respect the sovereignty of the individual.

Rules and regulations

As for who should set the rules and regulations for personal information management & oversight and exchange and privacy protection, it’s not clear.

Marketing executives (88%) find the state-by-state sectoral approach in the US burdensome and believe that federal direction could provide clearer directions. And yet, just 52% of marketers and consumers believe the Federal governments should do more. 

The Bottom line

The bottom line is clear. People are waking up to the fact that their personal information has value. They’re open to exchange, but they expect transparency and compensation. Clearly, from a consumer attitudinal perspective, the personal information economy is at hand, but it is also clear there are industry and regulatory gaps that must first start to close; moreover, we need to develop and deploy the tools to help people safely and securely engage in the exchange of their personal information.  

Reference

Data Privacy Report (p. 4~12). (2020). Wakefield Research. https://info.braze.com/rs/367-GUY-242/images/BrazeDataPrivacyReport.pdf

The Price of Personal Data (pp. 1–17). (2018). SYZYGY. https://media.szg.io/uploads/media/5b0544ac92c3a/the-price-of-personal-data-syzygy-digital-insight-survey-2018.pdf