"With 2017 recording an all-time highof over 1,500 data breaches, consumers are more aware of thethreats associated with holiday shopping and the need forbusinesses to better protect their data," Paige Schaffer, presidentand chief operating officer of Generali Global Assistance'sidentity and digital protection services global unit, said in apress release. (Photo: iStock)
Seventy-one percent of Americans are concerned that theirfinancial and personal information could becompromised due to data breaches while shopping during thisholiday season, according to a consumer survey conducted byGenerali Global Assistance.
|The second-year survey found that 91% of Americans plan to shop during the holidayseason. Their top three shopping options are:
- Brick-and-mortar stores (65%),
- Online via a laptop/desktop computer (59%),
- and mobile devices (36%).
Regardless of the preferred shopping method, 33% of consumerssay businesses are not doing all they can to protect their personalinformation. Another 33% say they are unsure if businesses aredoing enough.
|Related: Hidden risks lurk in rental cars for travelers thisholiday season
|Businesses could do more, shoppers feel
If a retailer experienced a data breach in thepast, 83% of shoppers feel concerned making an online orin-store purchase at that retailer. To ease consumer anxiety, thesurvey found that 55% of Americans would feel more confident if abusiness offered identity protection services, and is activelyworking to protect data and reduce cyber risk.
|This year, the most popular form of payment for holidaypurchases will be cash (56%), debit (52%) cards, and credit cards(45%). In 2017, the most popular form of payment for holidaypurchases was through a credit card (57%).
|"With 2017 recording an all-time high of over 1,500data breaches, consumers are more aware of the threatsassociated with holiday shopping and the need for businesses tobetter protect their data," Paige Schaffer, president and chiefoperating officer of Generali Global Assistance's identity anddigital protection services global unit, said in a press release."Though consumers are less confident in a business' ability toprotect their data, offering identity protection establishes trustand sends a clear message that they take the burden and privilegeof protection data seriously."
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