UK businesses not doing enough to reassure people about security

By Isabelle Chaize

The British public lacks trust regarding how businesses deal with their personal data compared to the rest of Europe.

In a report by VeriSign, it was found that 57% of UK users think that institutions such as banks and government departments are not doing enough to protect their confidential details.

In comparison, only 20% of Danish people questioned said the same thing, followed by France where 21% hold this view and Sweden and Germany with 33% and 40% respectively.

This mistrust leads to us being less willing to log into protected websites, such as online banking websites. Only 65% of Brits
say they share personal information online at least once weekly, whereas in Denmark 80% do. In Sweden the figure was 77%, and in France 72% said they regularly logged into such websites.

Jon Kerr, SSL manager of VeriSign, said that he thought it was to do with the way businesses are seen in the UK - ‘I think it’s in no small part down to consumer perception,’ he said. ‘Maybe businesses in Denmark [for example] have adopted security standards quicker than in other countries like the UK, so consumers get the message’.

He added that the recent series of incidents of lost data have also undoubtedly played a part.

The question remains exactly whose problem it is to look after data however. In France the result was firmly in favour of businesses taking responsibility when it came to looking after their customers details. In the UK though, only around half of users thought that businesses are solely responsible.

Despite the large proportion of people who think it is up to the customer to protect their own details, Kerr said that ‘it’s more about business adoption, how to keep up with best practice and how to keep your website safe and secure.’

Measures such as these will end up benefiting the business anyway, according to Danilo Labovic, SSL manager for VeriSign, as with the increasing frequency of theft of personal data, ‘customers are becoming more aware of the risks involved in passing on their details over sites that may not be secure. It is the organisations themselves that will fail to benefit as they will lose out on an increasingly sceptical customer base who expect their online safety to be taken care of.’