A dilemma of distrust: How data governance and privacy can rebuild customer confidences

Trust is becoming scarce in society and has fallen to an extreme low in the U.S. According to a September 2024 Gallup report, only 16% of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in major companies. The current level of public confidence in business is the same as it was at a previous low during the bottom of the 2008-09 recession, and only up slightly from the all-time low of 14% amid the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The issue is even more complicated with artificial intelligence as consumer trust in AI has declined from 50% to 35% in the past year, despite 76% of consumers indicating they trust technology overall.

This is the backdrop against which businesses today must gauge their data practices. While trust has long been an ephemeral concept, the current environment has created an imperative for structuring tangible frameworks and methodologies around trust and transparent data practices. Doing so will improve an organization's competitive positioning and establish a strong foundation for effective, responsible, trustworthy implementation and use of data.

Reduced compliance and enforcement may further erode public trust in business. Some bad actors may take advantage of this, possibly resulting in increased incidents. Companies may need to point to their compliance with internal policies and standards and their internal enforcement mechanisms if consumers do not believe regulators are meaningfully enforcing compliance.