Identity management firm ForgeRock, Inc. has released the results of a new privacy survey that has disturbingly found that most IT professionals don’t believe companies are doing enough to protect customer privacy.

The survey polled 300 IT professionals, working across eleven verticals, including healthcare, retail, telecommunications and finance in 38 countries, and found that 93 percent believed that while customer data privacy concerns are considered as critical by senior management, only 9 percent believed that current privacy and consent methods within their enterprise are adequate.

In terms of requirements of new data privacy and consent methods, 96 percent agreed that there is an increasing need for dynamic and flexible privacy tools that are adaptable to future borderless regulatory requirements and consumer expectations.

The survey also asked questions in regards to the developing nature of data privacy regulations given the Safe Harbour framework governing data transfer and storage between Europe and the United States was found to be illegal by a Europe court in January, with 84 percent of American respondents saying that they believe the U.S. will adopt similar person data protection regulation to Europe while only 66 percent of European respondents saying that they can see the Unites States doing so.

With the policy outlook in regards to privacy changing, particularly with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy policy being proposed by the European Union, 96 percent of IT professionals believe that these laws are creating a need for better tools and standards for ensuring personal data protection, privacy, and consent.

Customer Data Privacy Expectations

The IT professional surveyed seem to be in tune with customer data privacy expectations, with a full 95 percent agreeing that individuals are becoming more concerned about their personal data privacy; organizations need to build trust by giving customers the ability to control to data sharing, and that those organizations that do will build customer loyalty for their brand.

How this is implemented though is another matter; the majority of those surveyed believe that current methods are inadequate and new privacy and consent methods are required in the future, with 96 percent of respondents agreeing that data privacy and consent methods need to be dynamic and flexible so they can adapt to emerging regulatory requirements and consumer demands.

“As our survey illustrates, coping with regulation – privacy or otherwise – is no longer just a cost center for organizations. As connected devices and technologies take on a greater role in public and private life, there are massive business benefits to building in new identity and data privacy solutions that can scale over time,” ForgeRock Chief Executive Officer Mike Ellis said in a statement sent to SiliconANGLE. “Organizations clinging to legacy identity management technologies – which are currently inadequate – will be at a major disadvantage.”

A full copy of the survey findings is available from the ForgeRock website.

Image credit: ForgeRock.