Europeans value personal data as highly as cash

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 11 Oct 2007 at 15:59

People view their personal information to be as valuable as their own cash, according to a new survey.

The report shows that 87% of UK residents would switch to another bank if they thought that their personal information would be safer - only marginally lower than the 89% who said they would be willing to switch if their money was more secure.

The survey, conducted on behalf of Unisys, shows just how important data protection should be for companies, not only from a security point of view, but also for marketing and customer relations.

"Unisys believes that trust will only become more important - both to consumers and, therefore, to companies and governments," says the report.

Identity theft and data security is now a very mainstream concern - more than half of all Europeans surveyed were either "very concerned" or "extremely concerned" about unauthorised access to their personal information.

The survey goes on to ask whether people would support trusted companies if they began to use biometric security, with an overwhelming majority of 69% saying that they would. This would suggest that if a reputable bank offered a high-security banking scheme, that demand would be high.