I just finished reading about the results of a consumer survey conducted by a company named BitArmor Systems. They help companies manage and protect sensitive data throughout their organizations.
They conducted a survey of 400 consumers over the Black Friday weekend in cooperation with news stations from Louisville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham.
Turns out, lots of folks are concerned about the risk of identity theft over the holiday season when it comes to using their credit cards.
This is what their survey revealed:
- more than 3 out of 4 people are concerned about companies losing their credit card info to hackers and other criminals during the holiday season
- 2 out of 3 people will use their credit cards to pay for less than 25% of their purchases this year
- more than 40% of them revealed that they or someone they know has had their identity stolen
- 80% said they were "likely" to stop shopping at a store where adequate measures weren't being taken to protect their information, with 68% saying they were "extremely likely" to take their business elsewhere
- 75% would tell their friends about companies that don't protect their personal data
- only 5% said they were not concerned about the issue
This survey comes on the tail end of that big TJ Maxx security breach scandal, where 94 million credit card numbers and customer records were stolen. An event that could've been prevented because TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall's, was using obsolete data encryption measures to protect their customers' information.
When all of the hoopla and investigation was going on about the stolen records, an internal TJX company email surfaced that said "It must be a risk we are willing to take to for the sake of saving money."
Wow!
What about you?
- Are you concerned about using your credit cards during the holiday season?
- Do you think the holiday season increases the likelihood of your identity being stolen?
- Would you stop shopping at certain stores if you knew they weren't doing a good job of protecting your personal information?
Tell me what you think by clicking on "comments" right below the dotted line at the bottom of this post.
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