How Global Organizations Approach the Challenge of Protecting Personal Data

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Accenture research outlines the current state of data security and reveals how to turn data protection into a distinctive capability that supports high performance.

Watch the video: Accenture Study Reveals That the Perception of Data Security Is at Odds with Reality Listen to Alastair MacWillson, global security lead, explain how Accenture’s research outlines the state of data security and reveals how to turn data protection into a distinctive capability that supports high performance.

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Download the full article: Embedding Data Privacy into High Performance Businesses and Governments in Australia. [PDF, 1MB]

Personal data has become one of an organization’s most important assets—especially in a global economy in which customers are an important key to high performance. However, technology advancements (especially cloud computing, the consumerization of IT and mobility), new business models and increasingly sophisticated and globally interconnected business processes have outpaced not only regulations designed to protect data privacy but also in many cases, organizations’ ability to do so.

Security breaches have increased and research shows that they cause bottom-line costs as well as fines—an average fall in stock value of 5 percent for publicly held companies and serious damage to their reputations.

Given the seriousness of this issue, Accenture conducted a study to determine data protection practices around the world. This research involved two global surveys of more than 5,000 business leaders and 15,000 consumers.

• Approximately 70 percent of both business and consumer respondents agreed that organizations should secure consumers’ personal information, disclose how they use it and deal with the ramifications of losing it.
  
  
• Nearly half of business respondents were ambivalent about granting consumers control over their personal information, did not place a high priority on several critical aspects of consumer privacy and did not believe typical privacy practices were important.
  
  
• Internal issues such as employees and business or system failures were cited most often as the source of security breaches.
  
  
• While 58 percent of companies in our study have suffered data breaches, a similar percentage say it is important to avoid breaking privacy laws, and almost 70 percent regularly monitor such requirements.
  
  
• More than half of the companies in our study outsource the collection or processing of personal information about customers.
  
  
• While 58 percent of companies experienced at least one security breach in the past two years, 31 percent did not.
  
  
• The group that had no breaches displayed some substantial differences in attitudes and policies regarding data privacy and protection.

Based on an analysis of survey data, Accenture drew five conclusions:

• There is a notable difference between organizations’ intentions regarding data privacy and how they actually protect it, creating an uneven trust landscape.
  
  
• A majority of companies have lost sensitive personal information, and among these companies, the biggest causes are internal and something they potentially could control.
  
  
• Compliance complacency is prevalent throughout the world.
  
  
• Understanding the perspective on, and approach to, data protection and privacy among business partners is crucial.
  
  
• Companies that exhibit a “culture of caring” with respect to data protection and privacy are far less likely to experience security breaches.

This research, combined with Accenture’s extensive experience with leading companies, suggests three actions:

• If data protection and compliance frameworks have a narrow focus on regulatory compliance, they should be replaced with a more holistic approach that takes into account all of the ways in which data is generated and collected.
  
  
• Organizations should create a set of global data protection and privacy standards that delineate which data must be protected, set the rules for legitimate access and define how to protect such information.
  
  
• Companies should follow the example of the leaders in our survey by creating a “culture of caring” with regard to data protection and privacy.

Organizations that integrate these practices into their approach to data privacy and protection could experience lower fines and penalties; consistent data protection no matter where sensitive data is generated, stored, accessed or used; and a brand image that conveys trust and, in turn, helps attract and retain customers.

Most important, a superior approach to safeguarding sensitive data—one that positions data protection and privacy as a core corporate value—can be a distinctive capability that can help drive high performance in a dynamic and unpredictable global economy.

Contact us to find out how Accenture can help you turn data protection into a distinctive capability that enables high performance.