It's been a year since the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, but many consumers still have a terribly confused perception of this law. That's at least the conclusion of a recent study carried out in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain by the mobile marketing specialist company Ogury.
According to this report , only 8% of consumers say they better understand how their data is used since the GDPR came into effect a year ago.
55% of consumers are not shy about admitting that they do not have a better understanding of how companies use their data. In fact, 37% do not even know what the GDPR is exactly.
And that's not all. 39% of consumers go so far as to be unaware that the GDPR has been in place for a year now.
“These figures may be discouraging for legislators and regulators, who would benin phone number probably have liked a better understanding of the GDPR by consumers,” admits Gonzalo Figares, general manager of Ogury in Spain and VP in Latam. “But marketers should also admit their share of the blame for the poor understanding of the GDPR by consumers,” he adds.
“Companies need to fully understand what the GDPR is and educate consumers about the importance of sharing their data. In this sense, the level of consumer education will become increasingly important, and it will do so all over the world,” says Figares.
Today, 78% of consumers admit that they do not fully read the documents that companies send them regarding the transfer of their personal data. According to Ogury, this high percentage suggests that many companies have not included explicit and informed consent from consumers in such documents when transferring their personal data .
52% of consumers admit that, even after taking the trouble to read consent documents, they still do not understand how their personal data will be used.
“ The industry desperately needs to regain consumer trust by ensuring that they have a clear and fair choice and by gaining their explicit consent,” stresses Elie Kanaan, CMO of Ogury. “This means that consent warnings must be visible and formulated in sufficiently simple language,” he says.
There is also a piece of data in Ogury's report that gives cause for optimism. 71% of consumers are not interested in the possibility of sharing data from mobile apps and websites and providing their contact details in exchange for not having to pay to access certain content.