THE PRIVACY ERA

THE CUSTOMER VIEW

1
WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 2
 CONTENTS

4 FOREWORD Privacy in the Time of COVID-19

5 INTRODUCTION

7 KEY HIGHLIGHTS
8 Americans are concerned.
11 5G is only going to amplify concerns.
14 People are stuck.
16 Customers are conflicted.
19 Regulations barely register with customers.
22 The new PII: Personally Intimate Information.
25 Responses to a breach.
28 Penny for your thoughts?
31 Digital Devices vs Digital Self.
33 Not all industries win the same customer trust.
35 Data security: The great unifier.

38 Methodology
38 About Wunderman Thompson

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 3
 FOREWORD
Privacy in the Time of COVID-19

While tech innovations and customer expectations continue to

evolve before our very eyes, the world of data protection and privacy—
whether these apps have been proven to work or are effective in the
albeit somewhat behind the scene—is changing right along with them. The
fight against an invisible enemy? Rather than sacrifice privacy, there may
more connected Americans have become, the more it seems they are willing to
be more innovative ways to use data and technology to help fight such
sacrifice privacy as a result. Yet, they are also concerned about data protection—
events. After all, surveillance regimes are easier to build than they are to
even more so during the global pandemic.
dismantle. The Edward Snowden revelations demonstrated much, and did
little to restore confidence that government or other surveillance does not
In the age where our activities and online behavior are measured or analyzed,
take place.
COVID-19 has done little to calm the anxieties that Americans experience around
data protection and data privacy. In fact, the pandemic has highlighted attitudes
In a crisis, the right level of sharing, when and with whom, is paramount.
around privacy and what consumers may be willing to expose. Have attitudes changed
While privacy controls are debated against the need for the public good,
or shifted with their anxieties? Are Americans more open to giving up some privacy
big tech is pushing back and taking a stance in favor of more privacy
in exchange for what may help end a pandemic? Or is there too much opportunity for
controls against governments that want unfettered access to the data
abuse and surveillance? Is the public justified in their concerns?
harvested from contact-tracing apps. On the other end of the spectrum,
governments have shut down contact-tracing apps over privacy concerns.
The introduction of contact-tracing apps has reignited the spotlight on concerns
(The Creepy Scale™, on page 23, is somewhat erratic on this point—
of government surveillance and living in a surveillance state. These apps work in a
depending on the perspective.)
similar way to “Find my iPhone”: A Bluetooth signal is emitted from the device, causing
a “chirp” or “ping” and picked up by a nearby device with the same app. If users tests
The following report astutely points out that Americans are starting
positive for COVID-19, they can upload their signals to a database and others who were
to realize that technology is entering their homes in ways they had not
in proximity of that chirp are notified. The concern, of course, is that a user’s location
imagined before, including healthcare and the intimate information around
and movements are constantly being tracked—a scenario rife with opportunities for
it. The regulations around data protection are in place to ease American’s
potential abuse. As we’ve learned, requests from law enforcement without probable
concerns of privacy. Are they enough or are people yearning for more
cause for cellphone location data are nothing new.
control and transparency?

This perfect privacy storm reveals much to consider: Should we be so quick to sacrifice
Rachel Glasser, Chief Privacy Officer
data privacy in the time of COVID-19 or any other emergency? Do we even know
Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 4
 INTRODUCTION
The Behavioral Economics principle known
as the Availability Heuristic tells us that people have a
tendency to overly focus their attention and color their thinking
based on what is most present in their mind, which is usually the result
of what they have most recently heard about, especially those things
they’re hearing about with a high frequency. If that’s the case, then why
are we talking about data privacy and data security? Shouldn’t we be talking
about COVID-19, protests against racial injustice, and the upcoming presidential
election? Those are clearly the topics that are most “available” to anyone in the US
today.

We’d argue that data privacy and data security are intimately linked and intertwined
with all of these “available” topics. While the US has certainly experienced pandemics,
of electronic voting results and campaign rallies ( just look at the alleged
civil unrest, and a divided, contentious political environment before, we haven’t had
disruption of the Trump campaign’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally by a movement
these experiences with a deeply reliant digital populace. And with that brings numerous
started on TikTok). With that backdrop, I’d say that now -perhaps more
issues related to data security and data privacy.
than at any time in our history–is the exact right time to examine data
privacy and data security.
With regards to the pandemic, there are privacy concerns about contact tracing, tools
being used to assist with social distancing, telemedicine visits, analyses of health
So welcome to Wunderman Thompson Data’s inaugural report on data
conditions, and concerns related to remote working such as insecure home WiFi set-
privacy and security. This new research comes at a critical moment for
ups, companies tracking employee productivity, and even Zoom-bombing and the
brands and their customers, as well as society at large. For years, data has
security of video meeting platforms. With respect to protests against racial injustice,
been collected en masse with the mutual understanding that it needed to
there are data concerns about government surveillance of protesters, the accuracy
be valued, secured, and used to provide better experiences.
and application of facial recognition software, the use of drones and police with facial
recognition software, governments scraping social media for protest organizing, and
Unfortunately, as multiple data breaches have shown, companies and
police using body-worn digital technologies to intercept organizer communications.
institutions are not always the best stewards of our personal information,
And with a severely divided populace about to vote for president, there are concerns
and it can be difficult for people to see the benefit of allowing them to have
about disinformation and fake news, foreign government election intervention, election
it. To gain a better understanding of the situation and how it is affecting
commission and campaign database hacking, voter authentication, and manipulation
people and their behaviors, Wunderman Thompson Data undertook
a survey in late 2019 of 1,500 US adults aged 18 and over.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 5
The top-line results are both insightful and alarming. Overall,
the research showed that people are highly concerned about the
privacy and security of their data. In fact, only healthcare ranked higher
on their list of worries. At the same time, Americans are paralyzed about what
to do about the situation. They are unaware of regulations designed to protect
them, and they feel helpless and overwhelmed.

In the following pages, you will find the customer view data privacy and security, with
detailed results, insights, and ways brands can address their concerns and, hopefully,
move toward a much more data-safe, transparent, and confident environment.

Be sure to check out Wunderman Thompson’s The Privacy Era: The Brand Implications,
a playbook with guidelines on how brands must prioritize privacy over convenience
in this new age of digital value exchange.

Mark Truss, Chief Research Officer

Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 6
 KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Most brands have little understanding of
the impact of their data-collection efforts on customers.
Living in a world awash in acronyms, they tend to see data as
much more of a technology problem than a human one. They often
focus on the amazing results and exceptional customer experiences it can
help them provide. However, the survey showed that while customers may
appreciate better experiences, they come at a price.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 7
Americans
are
concerned.
While it is not surprising that customers have concerns around
data, it’s eye-opening just how prominent those concerns are.
Fully 58% of respondents said that they are very concerned
about the privacy and security of their personal information
and data. This places data near the top of all concerns for
people in the country, just below healthcare at 61%. To put this
in perspective, people are more worried about their data than
they are about terrorism, climate change, gun violence, natural
disasters, and the cost of living.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 8
Data privacy and security are front and center in the minds
of Americans today.

TOP CONCERNS IN UNITED STATES BOTTOM CONCERNS IN UNITED STATES TODAY

Cost of healthcare 61% Threat of terrorism 36%

privacy 51%
Privacy/security of personal info & data 58% Country’s budget deficit 35%
security 50%
Current national political leadership 52% Cyber-terrorism 34%

The quality of healthcare 51% Current state of the economy 33%

Gun violence 51% Immigration 33%

Cost of living 47% Country’s infrastructure 31%

Quality of education 45% Natural disasters 30%

Sexual abuse of women 43% Drug use in community 29%

Racial tensions 42% Safety of products 28%

Polarization of political views 42% Potential military hostilities around the world 27%

Impact of climate change 42% You and your family’s current job security 26%

Identity theft 38% The rate of crime in your community 26%

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 9
 INSIGHT

Currently, we are seeing a combination of media coverage of hacks and

breaches alongside a trend of people increasingly regarding their on- and
offline presence as one. This has resulted in a new hierarchy of concerns
in which people are much more worried about the privacy and security of
personal information and data than they are about gun violence and the
impact of climate change.
—Emma Chiu, Global Director, Wunderman Thompson Intelligence

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 10
5G is only
going
to amplify
concerns.
This situation is likely to only get worse in the near term.
Most Americans (80%) know 5G is coming, but the country is
split on how much they should worry about it. About half say
they are embracing 5G or taking it in stride, but the other half
(49%) say they are concerned about its effect on their personal
data. Almost no one thinks 5G will lessen their worries about
data security and privacy. If this holds true, healthcare may
soon lose its dubious distinction as America’s top worry.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 11
The rollout of 5G will likely only increase data privacy and security concerns.

CONCERN OF PERSONAL INFO/DATA USING 5G

48

20

49
Not aware of 5G
25 25
Aware

80 3

2 1

Much MORE Somewhat MORE Neither more Somewhat LESS Much LESS
concerned concerned about nor less concerned concerned about
about personal personal info/data concerned about personal personal info/data
data/info info/data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 12
INSIGHT
Americans are just starting to realize what 5G will mean
in their daily lives. They’re realizing that technology will
finally be expanding into areas many have long been
reading about: their homes, their cars (as well as self-
driving vehicles), their entertainment experiences, retail
experiences, medical treatment, home delivery of food
and products, and a whole host of additional things they
can’t even imagine.
WUNDERMAN THOMPSON
Along with that comes a lot of uncertainty. How will all this work?
If people can barely keep the data on their phones and laptop
secure, how will they manage it across all of those things? What,
and how much, personal information will be known and by whom,
where, and for what purpose?
If history is any gauge, the customer benefits of 5G
will likely outweigh privacy and security concerns and
adoption will be rapid. But in a 5G world, service providers
and data players will need to be ever-more mindful of how
they use these new streams of data and, importantly, the
transparency with which they do, as customers are going
to be on alert.
—Mark Truss, Chief Research Officer,
Wunderman Thompson Data
13
People
are
stuck.
Customers are stuck, feeling overwhelmed with the burden and
ambiguities of securing their personal information. Generally
speaking, they don’t know what to do and don’t understand how
the data ecosystem works. They feel it’s beyond their control
and that they are stuck in a state of passive inertia—with a
touch of paranoia. Not surprisingly, many have capitulated as a
result:

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 14
 80% 85% 76% 72% 6 4%

80% of Americans feel
that controlling the
security and privacy of
personal information is
very difficult to do
85% say it’s difficult
to know just what to
do to protect personal
information
76% say that controlling
the security and privacy
of their personal
information is very
time-consuming to do
72% say that hacks and 64% say while they’re
data breaches are just worried, they’ve
part of modern life honestly given up trying
to control it

Customers have all but resigned themselves to the idea that

risking the security of their personal information is a fair trade
in order to participate in the contemporary digital landscape.
There is an opportunity for brands and platforms to differentiate
themselves by demonstrating how this is a false choice.

—Jason Carmel, Chief Data Officer, Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 15
Customers
are
conflicted.
Customers are also highly conflicted about data privacy and
security. Despite their stated concerns, only 18% say they are
very diligent about ensuring the safety and security of their
data. Fifty-eight percent aren’t sure exactly what to do,
and 54% don’t understand how companies are using their
personal information. Even so, 82% recognize that they should
be doing more.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 16
Part of the reason is time. Asked what they thought they should be doing to protect
their data privacy and security, they reported everything from credit card checks to
regularly changing passwords on financial accounts. Added up together, these activities
would take them nearly an hour a week or 3 hours and 20 minutes a month. Not
surprisingly, 76% of Americans agreed that controlling the security and privacy of their
personal information and data is very time-consuming to do.

For many, it’s also a matter of risk versus reward. More than half (54%) of Americans
report that their personal data had already been compromised, and alarmingly, 69%
have resigned themselves to believing that a company currently holding their data will
be hacked or otherwise compromised in the next 12 months.

With so many negative personal experiences and fear for the future, you’d think
customers would be very mindful of who they do business with. Surprisingly, 72% of
people reported that they had continued doing business with companies that had
notified them that that personal information or data was or might have been hacked,
breached, stolen, or otherwise compromised. Somehow, the message is not getting
through.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 17
INSIGHT
This research demonstrates a well-understood
phenomenon in behavioral economics: the escalation
of commitment. Individuals who face increasingly negative
outcomes from an action tend to counterintuitively
continue in the behavior instead of altering course.
This protects their sense of self by aligning current
behaviors with previous decisions and actions. People
are preprogrammed to behave this way. But another behavioral economics principle, loss aversion, states
that there are limits to the escalation of commitment. Once a
customer experiences a significant enough loss,
those prior decisions seem less attractive. So while customers
are fine to stay the course while the reward outweighs the risk,
we need to ask ourselves where they will draw the line.
At what point will negative data experiences make the risk
of loss become so strong that it begins to impact brand-choice
decisions? The latent sense of anxiety in our data suggests
we’re approaching that tipping point.

—Mark Truss, Chief Research Officer, Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 18
Regulations
barely
register
with
customers. The past few years have seen increased regulatory activity,
with new laws designed to protect personal data. Such
efforts include the European Union’s General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) and the California Customer Privacy Act
(CCPA), not to mention numerous bills being considered
in state houses around the country. Unfortunately, these
sweeping regulations are not reassuring anyone. In fact, most
people are unaware of their existence.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 19
To understand the extent of this ignorance, our survey asked how aware people were
not only of real data laws but also fake ones, like the fictitious US Privacy Protection
Law. Respondents reported that they were aware of the real laws at only a marginally
higher rate than the fake ones. This shows that they do not know about the laws
designed to protect them, and as a result aren’t taking advantage of their provisions.

Data protection regulations and legislation are barely registering with consumers.

AWARENES OF DATA PRIVACY REGULATIONS AND ACTS

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) 13%

COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule) 12%

CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) 10%

UPPL (US Privacy Protection Laws) **FAKE** 10%

GPPR (Glasser Online Privacy Protection Regulation) **FAKE** 4%

LD 946 (Maine’s Act To Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Info) 3%

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 20
INSIGHT
People aren’t paying attention, mainly because no one
is making it easy for them to do so. Lawmakers and
regulators have to do a better job of communicating the
benefits of their legislation to customers in simple, easy-
to-understand language. Educational resources about
what rights people have under these new laws are scarce.

Entities that collect and process personal information

about customers have to do better in how they describe to
customers data collection and use practices as well. Often
efforts to require more clear disclosures lead to more
confusion and longer privacy notices.

Brands have an excellent opportunity to stand out in this

space (and burnish their pro-customer, pro-transparency
credentials) by helping people understand what these
laws are, why they matter, and what benefits they provide.

—Rachel Glasser, Chief Privacy Officer,

Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 21
The new PII:
Personally
Intimate
Information.
People and the data industry are also at odds over what they
want protected. The industry focuses on personally identifiable
information (PII), or things that describe or identify a person,
such as name, gender, bank account, driver’s license, social
security number, and passport information.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 22
 TM
Wunderman Thompson Data Scale

Your fingerprint 63%

The location of your family members 62%
When you’re having relationship problems 62%
However, as part of this research, we developed What your voice sounds like 61%
something we call the Creepy Scale TM. It reveals that
Your text messages 61%
customers are more concerned about things like location
data, biometrics, fingerprints, relationship information, What your face looks like 60%
and person-to-person text messages. For them, PII really If a woman is pregnant or not 52%
stands for “personally intimate information.” And they are
Your e-mails 50%
much more interested in protecting this information than
keeping their race or gender a secret. Your current location 49%
Where you live 49%
What health conditions you have 48%
Things you worry about 48%
When you drive your car 46%
Your location over the last 6 months 46%
When you’re likely to quit your job 46%
Your religious views 26%
Your grocery habits 24%
Your age 24% The data also shows, perhaps
Which brands of products you buy 23% counterintuitively, that the more
you are engaged with technology,
What types of TV shows and movies you like 23%
the more concerned you are
What ads you’ve clicked on 22%
about such things. For example,
Products you’ve searched for online 22% early tech adopters over-index
Your race/ethnicity 22% on our Creepy Scale TM, while tech
followers under-index. Similarly,
What stores you shop in 22%
younger (more tech-native) people
Your political affiliation 21% are much more concerned than
Your gender 21% older people.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 23
 INSIGHT

While data used in online advertising and in marketing has

historically been thought of as relatively benign, it’s becoming
less and less so. As we move away from cookie-like technologies,
we are relying more on deterministic identifiers (your name or
email address). Deterministic identifiers require more hard,
personal information than the pseudonymized identifiable
information like a cookie. The ability to track people more
precisely, building more robust profiles, without awareness to
people’s reasonable expectations of how their data are being
collected and used—or what their reaction to this potential use
of their data will be, are details that only foster more confusion,
less transparency, and more feelings of ‘creepiness’.

—Rachel Glasser, Chief Privacy Officer, Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 24
Responses
to
a breach.
So what happens when a data breach occurs? The survey
results found a mixed bag. Early on, people tend to react in a
highly visceral way. They report feeling disoriented, violated,
frightened, panicked, and devastated. They also describe
the experience of a data breach in human terms, like having
your home broken into, having your wallet or purse stolen, or
having the feeling of being stalked. Businesses would do well
to consider people’s emotional state when they are developing
communications and outreach strategies, balancing facts with
understanding and empathy.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 25
We also found that speed and transparency are essential
when responding to a data breach. Fifty-five percent of
people say they would trust a company again if it got the
word out quickly. They also want specific information—
not generalities (51%)—and for the company to work with
security experts to ensure that their data is as safe as it
can be (51%). In other words, companies must respond to
both rational and emotional needs if they want to restore
trust. That said, the customer
response to compromised
data is fairly superficial. On
average, people take only three
actions after their data have
been compromised: changing
their passwords, checking their
financial accounts regularly,
and requesting a new credit
card from their bank. All of
these rate relatively low on both
effort and effectiveness. The
most effective actions—deleting
an account, stopping doing
business with the company,
and downloading security
software—are among the least
done. Only 28% of people stop
doing business with or using the
services of a company after
a data breach.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 26
INSIGHT
The nomenclature of our industry can be terrifying. When
we’re saying things like ‘security breach,’ ‘identity theft,’
‘data hack,’ ‘online tracking’” ‘personal information,’ and
‘online identifier’—it’s no wonder that individuals tend to
react emotionally. Such words invariably elicit a negative
emotional response. When an incident happens, as our
data shows, customers are usually not surprised—they’re
expecting to experience something at some point. But
we’d be better served as an industry to use language that
people understand and avoid the histrionic vernacular of
our industry.

So long as customers feel like they know what is going on, the
company will have a better chance of regaining their trust.
—Rachel Glasser, Chief Privacy Officer, Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 27
Penny
for your
thoughts?
While people have only a vague sense of how their data are
being used, they do have a slightly better understanding of
the value exchange. An overwhelming proportion want more
transparency, and platforms that afford them greater control
over the value exchange:

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 28
• 91% say they wish companies were more explicit about AVERAGE COST OF DATA PER AMERICAN / MONTH
the intent to use their data in exchange for the value
they’re giving them.

• 89% say that companies are deliberately vague about TV Viewing Demo- Health
how the data-for-benefit exchange really works.
what’s watched on graphics health
TV, taste in movies/ age, gender, income, conditions
shows race, ethnicity
• 86% would like an easy way to be able to pick and choose $100
$60 $87
what they get in return for sharing data.

• 90% want an easy way to be able to pick and choose the

data they share.

How they Digital Messages

feel behavior text messages,
what they’re sites visited, search e-mail
worried about, history, ads clicked
having relationship $160
problems $105
$100
The data industry has been reluctant to open this
Pandora’s box and for good reason. When people are
asked to assign a dollar value to what they think their Purchase Location Biometrics
data are worth, the numbers are staggering. For example, data data fingerprints, voice,
online, In-store, current, past 6 facial recognition
they think businesses should pay them $87 a month just
online search, months, home, work,
for their demographic data. If we wanted the demographic brands, stores vacation, family $550
data of all Americans, that would cost $218 billion a year. members
$200
And that’s just the most descriptive data. If you wanted $375
more intimate data, like biometrics, the cost would
increase six-fold.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 29
INSIGHT
Once customers really understand the volume and
complexity of the data that is being collected and sold
without their knowledge, agreement, or benefit, there
will be a revolution of the kind that leaves brands,
businesses, and entire industries in tatters. Businesses
that operate under the assumption that data about their
customers is free for the taking and monetizing will likely
not survive.

Conversely, the business or industry that makes peace with

the value exchange of data and incorporates a fair-value cost
strategy early on will not only survive but thrive at the expense
of competitors who do not. The evolution and experimentation
required to share data value with customers might be painful in
the short term, but the consequences of not doing it will
be fatal in the long term.

— Jason Carmel, Chief Data Officer, North America, Wunderman Thompson Data

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 30
Digital devices
vs.
digital self.
People do a pretty good job of protecting their digital devices
(their phones, laptops, etc.), but have yet to make the leap
to protecting their digital selves online. Nearly three-quarters
(71%) of people are using some type of anti-virus, malware,
or firewall software on their devices, while less than half
(48%) are using digital tools and services to protect their
online identity.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 31
 SERVICES CURRENTLY USED

And one-third of those who are protecting their digital

selves online are only doing so because the data of a McAfee 29% LifeLock 15%
company they do business with has been compromised
and the company offered them free monitoring services. Norton 24% myFICO 11%
The slow migration from device protection to identity Avast 12% Credit Sesame 9%
protection is likely due to the customers’ general lack
Malware Bytes 10% Experian’s IdentityWorks 7%
of understanding of the digital data ecosystem and the
potential consequences at stake. AVG 10% Privacy Guard 6%
360 Total Security 5% Identity Guard 5%
Kaspersky 5% Identity Protect 5%
BitDefender 3% IDShield 4%
WebRoot 3% Credit Karma 3%

Scan Guard 2% 71% My CleanID 3% 48%

ESET 2% IdentityIQ 3%
PC Protect 2% IdentityForce 3%
Trend Micro 2% Panda Security 3%

Zone Alarm 2% ID WatchDog 3%

F-Secure 1% Intelius 2%
Total AV 1% ReliaShield 1%
Bull Guard 1% Others 4%
Voodoo Software 1% None of these 29%
The Kure 1%
None of these 29%
WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 32
Not all
industries
win the
same
customer
trust.
Marketers have long known that the trust a customer places
in a brand can vary significantly from category to category.
In fact, there appears to be a halo effect of trust, i.e., the more
trust a customer has in an industry in general, the more trust
they’re willing to place in that business’ ability to secure
their data.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 33
This is likely due to a couple of factors. First, the categories they trust the most with INSIGHT
their data (healthcare, retail banking, investments) are ones in which the stakes are high
if their data were compromised. Customers believe that these companies are as diligent “We all know that trust in a business is a cornerstone
as they are expected to be. The most trusted categories are also highly regulated attribute of any client-customer relationship. The idea
categories, and people may be projecting their trust in the regulatory environment of a halo effect of trust is interesting, as the effect
onto them. can often run in both directions. Trust a company for one
thing, and you’re likely to trust them with another. Said
another way, trust is transferable. If so, what does that
Top Trusted Industry Segmens Least Trusted Industry Segmens suggest about the lack of trust a customer might have
in a company’s ability to protect their data after
Healthcare providers Sharing Economy companies a breach? Will the lack of trust about data then transfer
(e.g., doctor, local hospital) 78% 78%
to a general lack of trust in the business overall? That
Your pharmacy 75% Mobile App companies 75%
would certainly seem plausible. This, of course, raises the
Banks 74% Social Media companies 74% stakes significantly on how companies should respond
Health insurance companies 69% Advertising companies 69% to their customers when a data breach occurs. In the
Investment firms Online gaming sites
future, the new business mantra may well evolve to ‘safer,
63% 63%
then better, faster, cheaper’.”
Nonprofit organizations 62% Online gambling sites 62%

—Grant Keller, CEO, Acceleration,

a Wunderman Thompson Company
Technology companies
(e.g., Microsoft, Google, Apple)

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 34
Data
security:
the great
unifier.
America today is probably more polarized than it has been in a
century. The left strongly supports many issues that the right
loudly rejects, and vice versa. As a result, the country has few
truly bipartisan concerns.

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON 35
 COULD DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY BE THE GREAT UNIFIER IN AMERICA?

To end on a positive note, our Drug use in community 31% Republicans

32%
MOST AGREEMENT
research found that data
Cyber-terrorism 35% Democrats
privacy and security are one 36%

of the few issues on which Budget Deficit 36%

37%
Americans of all political
stripes are united. Fifty-seven Infrastructure 31%
33%
percent of Republicans and Threat of terrorism 40%
60% of Democrats agree that 37%

privacy and security of data Privacy and Security of personal info & data 57%
60%
and information is a concern to
Identity theft 41%
them, which is a significantly 38%

higher level of agreement than Current Job Security 22%

32%
any other issue surveyed. With
Quality of Education 39%
such strong bi-partisan 49%

support, a national data privacy Natural Disasters 24%

35%
policy might be easier to get
through Congress than we Cost of healthcare 56%
69%
might imagine. In fact, just Cost of Living 39%
weeks before this report was 55%

published, CEOs of the big tech Current state of economy 24%

44%
companies received a
Sexual abuse of women 33%
bi-partisan tongue lashing from 54%

Congress. Healthcare quality 40%

62%

Racial tensions 30%

57%

Immigration 30%
57%
Republicans and Democrats Climate change 22%
70%
differ on many issues, but
when it comes to the privacy Current political leadership 32%
70%
and security of their data,
Gun violence 33%
they’re on the same page. 71% LEAST AGREEMENT

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 Methodology Notes
The data for this research was collected via an online survey of 1,501 American adults
aged 18 or older. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points at 90%
confidence. The data were collected between September 25th and October 3rd, 2019. All
data were collected and processed in adherence with generally accepted industry best
practices. The data were weighted on age and gender to ensure our sample matches US
Census estimates for a nationally representative sample.

About Wunderman Thompson

At Wunderman Thompson we exist to inspire growth for ambitious brands.
Part creative agency, part consultancy and part technology company, our experts
provide end-to-end capabilities at a global scale to deliver inspiration across the entire
brand and customer experience.

We are 20,000 strong in 90 markets around the world, where our people bring together
creative storytelling, diverse perspectives, inclusive thinking, and highly specialized
vertical capabilities, to drive growth for our clients. We offer deep expertise across
the entire customer journey, including communications, commerce, consultancy,
CRM, CX, data, production and technology.

wundermanthompson.com
Rachel Glasser Mark Truss
Chief Privacy Officer Chief Research Officer
Wunderman Thompson Data Wunderman Thompson Data
rachel.glasser@wundermanthompson.com mark.truss@wundermanthompson.com

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