As privacy and information security become mainstream concerns, a number of organizations have focused on educating consumers about steps they can take to help protect themselves and their privacy. The Lares Institute has recently completed a cutting-edge research project that is aimed at measuring whether consumers are getting the message.
What Can Consumers Do to Protect Themselves?
According to the FTC, there are a number of steps people can take, including four key steps that an individual can take to protect themselves:
- know who you share information with;
- store and dispose of your personal information securely, especially your Social Security number;
- ask questions before deciding to share your personal information; and
- maintain appropriate security on your computers and other electronic devices.
Other organizations have made similar recommendations, and these organizations, as well as the FTC, have engaged in a variety of education and awareness activities to help consumers understand what they can do to protect themselves, and why these issues are so critical.
What Was the Focus of the Study?
The study conducted by The Lares Institute was based upon multi-year research that asked consumers a series of questions about their own privacy-protective behavior, including:
- Whether they carry their SSN in their wallet;
- Whether they shred PII;
- Do consumers use secure mailing methods for PII;
- Do they use secure passwords; and
- Whether they use an antivirus program.
The study compares the responses over two years to see how consumer behavior has changed. It also examined how consumer behavior was different based upon demographics. In summary, there are three key conclusions to draw from the research:
- individuals are changing their behavior, but more work remains to be done to educate consumers;
- continuing education and awareness efforts should focus on getting consumers to focus on shredding of PII, secure storage of PII, and secure mailing of PII; and
- as with other privacy issues, demographics matter, and there should be a focus on getting younger people to not carry their Social Security cards with them, as this research shows that there has been an increase in the number of younger people that are carrying their Social Security card in their wallet.
The White Paper that provides more detail regarding this research can be found here.