It is almost exactly a year since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, but a new survey of consumers in six major markets has found just 8% feel they better understand how their data is used.
And according to Ogury, a mobile journey marketing firm, more than half (55%) of consumers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain say they do not have a better understanding of how companies use their data, while 37% don’t even know what GDPR is.
Ogury polled a huge sample of 287,571 mobile consumers in mid-February for its GDPR One Year On report, including 46,964 people in the UK.
It found that even in the five EU countries surveyed, a “surprisingly high” 39% of respondents still are unaware of what GDPR is a whole year since its implementation.
“These might be disheartening numbers for lawmakers and regulators, who will have no doubt hoped for a far greater level of understanding from the very consumers that GDPR is designed to protect,” said Thomas Pasquet, Ogury’s co-founder and CEO.
“But marketers should similarly take heed of this admission by users that the message is not getting through in sufficient numbers,” he added.
“Businesses need to deeply understand what GDPR is and in turn educate consumers around the importance of data sharing; this level of consumer education will become increasingly important across the globe.”
With 78% of respondents not reading consent notices in their entirety, the Ogury study suggested that businesses have not introduced a requirement for explicit and informed user consent for data collection and usage.
Especially as 52% of consumers globally – rising to 58% of consumers in European countries – say they still don’t understand how their data is used even after reading consent notices.
“The industry desperately needs to earn back consumers’ trust, by granting them a clear and fair choice and gaining their explicit consent,” said Elie Kanaan, CMO at Ogury. “That means consent notices must be in plain words, published in plain sight.”
However, on a more positive note for marketers, the survey also revealed that 71% of consumers would be willing to share data from their mobile apps and websites, as well as providing contact details, rather than having to pay to access content.
“The fact that 71% of mobile users globally would share their data if they know exactly which data is being collected and how it will be used, tells us clearly that consumers are willing to contribute to preserve a free internet as long as the exchange is fair and respected,” said Kanaan.
And according to Ogury, a mobile journey marketing firm, more than half (55%) of consumers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain say they do not have a better understanding of how companies use their data, while 37% don’t even know what GDPR is.
Ogury polled a huge sample of 287,571 mobile consumers in mid-February for its GDPR One Year On report, including 46,964 people in the UK.
It found that even in the five EU countries surveyed, a “surprisingly high” 39% of respondents still are unaware of what GDPR is a whole year since its implementation.
“These might be disheartening numbers for lawmakers and regulators, who will have no doubt hoped for a far greater level of understanding from the very consumers that GDPR is designed to protect,” said Thomas Pasquet, Ogury’s co-founder and CEO.
“But marketers should similarly take heed of this admission by users that the message is not getting through in sufficient numbers,” he added.
“Businesses need to deeply understand what GDPR is and in turn educate consumers around the importance of data sharing; this level of consumer education will become increasingly important across the globe.”
With 78% of respondents not reading consent notices in their entirety, the Ogury study suggested that businesses have not introduced a requirement for explicit and informed user consent for data collection and usage.
Especially as 52% of consumers globally – rising to 58% of consumers in European countries – say they still don’t understand how their data is used even after reading consent notices.
“The industry desperately needs to earn back consumers’ trust, by granting them a clear and fair choice and gaining their explicit consent,” said Elie Kanaan, CMO at Ogury. “That means consent notices must be in plain words, published in plain sight.”
However, on a more positive note for marketers, the survey also revealed that 71% of consumers would be willing to share data from their mobile apps and websites, as well as providing contact details, rather than having to pay to access content.
“The fact that 71% of mobile users globally would share their data if they know exactly which data is being collected and how it will be used, tells us clearly that consumers are willing to contribute to preserve a free internet as long as the exchange is fair and respected,” said Kanaan.
Sourced from Ogury; additional content by WARC staff
