News

Data theft or broken bone? Many Americans would prefer the latter

May 13, 2016

Nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) of U.S. consumers would rather have a bone broken than have their identity and payment information stolen, according to a survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of data science company Feedzai.

According to the report, "Consumer Trust Survey: Data in the Hands of Companies and Government," in addition to bone breaks, Americans would rather suffer a number of unpleasant events rather than have their information stolen:

• a hangover (44 percent);
• long daily commute to work (35 percent);
• being cheated on by a significant other (12 percent); and
• being evicted (9 percent).

Ironically, the entities and organizations consumers trust the most might actually be doing the least in terms of data monetization:

• 25 percent trust banking sites not to sell their data;
• 13 percent trust government entities;
• 2 percent trust mobile phone manufacturers, search engines and wireless providers;
• 1 percent trust large corporations and social media sites; and
• less than 1 percent trust mobile gaming apps and mobile sharing apps.

​More than half of Americans do not trust any company or organization with their data, the survey found. Additionally, 59 percent of Americans say it is never acceptable for a company to use or access their personal data without their permission, while 29 percent say it's OK if national security is at stake.

Americans are most suspicious of the devices they own vs. those they do not. Only 23 percent of Americans think they are most at-risk for fraud when using a POS device in a retail location; 44 percent think using their own smartphones, desktop or laptop, tablet or standard mobile phone put them at higher risk for fraud

As for the type of data stolen, 42 percent of Americans are most afraid of having their social security number stolen by a hacker, followed by banking login information (28 percent) and credit card information (15 percent).