Most Indians do not trust digital services to protect their personal data. According to a new study by Microsoft along with IDC Asia/Pacific, as much as 46 per cent Indians have had their trust compromised while using digital services. Almost 60 per cent Indians suspect that organisations offering digital services will not protect their personal information.
The study, titled 'Understanding Consumer Trust in Digital Services in Asia Pacific', was aimed to understand consumer expectations of trust and their experiences with digital services and provude tangible insights to bridge the gap.
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“Despite consumers' increased dependence on digital services, there is still a considerable trust gap that needs to be addressed. Most consumers still do not perceive organisations to be trusted data stewards,” said Keshav Dhakad, group head & assistant general counsel CELA at Microsoft India, adding that “businesses need to do a lot more to understand what drives consumer trust and focus on how they can build trust and make it a key competitive advantage for their digital services.”
The study found that users were of the opinion that technology companies, followed by the government, should take the lead in building trust and use artificial intelligence (AI) in a trusted manner. While the adoption of AI is in nascent stages, it was found that there was great optimism for it in India. Most consumers in India, as much as 92 per cent, were aware of AI and were generally positive about its impact on their jobs (79 per cent).
The joint study asked respondents on privacy, security, reliability, ethics and compliance, when using digital services. The study revealed that consumers feel that all five elements of trust are almost equally important to them. Specifically, security (86 per cent), privacy (85 per cent) and compliance (82 per cent) emerged the top three. Consumers also expected the highest form of trust from financial services institutions, followed by educational institutions and retailers.