Marketers Get Serious About Data Protection

August 24th, 2006

TRUSTe is very excited about a new resource issued by the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO Council) - emphasizing the importance of data protection on brand trust. This survey and forthcoming report entitled Secure the Trust of Your Brand, assesses the security mindset of consumers and calls marketer’s attention to the critical issues of privacy and security.

Read the Report & Share with Your Marketing Colleagues

TRUSTe is partnering with the CMO Council to provide our privacy and security best practices as key resources for addressing the consumer concerns raised in this survey and the forthcoming Fall 2006 report. We hope that you will participate in the CMO Council Secure the Trust of your brand program by taking the business executive survey (at right).

Secure the Trust of Your Brand(TM) is a major thought leadership initiative undertaken by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council to raise awareness and influence thinking about security among leading corporate marketers, brand managers and other senior corporate business executives. This global initiative includes six individual research components, and when published, will provide the first 360 degree view of the extent to which security now influences customer consideration, acquisition and retention.

Among the key findings from the consumer audits:

• Security concerns among consumers are rising-particularly among those who have experienced breaches firsthand.

o 65 percent of European and U.S. respondents, on average, have experienced computer security problems such as viruses and spyware

o One in six respondents have had their personal information lost or compromised

• Consumers aren’t taking these incidents lying down.

o 40 percent of respondents have actually stopped a transaction online, on the phone or in a store due to a security concern

o Over a third say they would strongly consider taking their business elsewhere if their personal information were compromised

o 25 percent would definitely take their business elsewhere if their personal information were compromised

We think this report and program are a good sign that marketers are getting the message that data security in privacy can strengthen brand value. We hope our sealholders find this a useful tool in supporting privacy and security initiatives within your organization.

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