Compliance Management, Network Security, Privacy, Threat Management

Survey: millennials not confident in data security, would consider chip implants for verification

Millennial consumers aren't confident in the security of their data and would even consider digital chip implants as an alternative to current practices, according to a study.

Conducted by Atomik Research, the Intercede Millennial Survey of more than 2,000 UK and the U.S. consumers aged 16-35 found that 68 percent of respondents believe the risk to their online privacy will increase as we become more digitally connected.

“One of the findings that most surprised us was that 30 percent of millennials would be open to or consider a digital chip implant for next generation identity verification,” Intercede CEO, Richard Parris told SCMagazine.com via email correspondence Tuesday.

Of those surveyed, 32 percent said they would like to see more secure and convenient digital verification and authentication approaches that don't require multiple complex passwords and 45 percent claim they only change passwords when they have to.

Parris said that passwords are an outdated form of authentication and that companies and government agencies have continuously asked users to adopt more complex and harder to remember passwords instead of  getting rid of them and implementing a more streamlined approach to identity verification. 

The survey also found that despite growing up in the age of social media, 61 percent of respondents stated their level of trust as “none” or “a little” for social media platforms yet 58 percent of the respondents replied “very important” or “vital” when asked how important it was for social media content to only be shared with those they have authorized access.

“Millennials have witnessed firsthand how these platforms have struggled to figure out how to address data privacy, and I guarantee most millennials have had a negative experience in the early days when these platforms operated without data security or user privacy as a top-of-mind concern,” Parris said.

When asked for their personal motivation for allowing companies to have access to their data, 23 percent of those surveyed said “I believe they will have access to my data either way, so it doesn't matter if I grant it to them or not.”

“I think what this survey says is millennials aren't really that different from the rest of the population. Yes, they do share a bit more - but it doesn't mean that they aren't concerned with privacy or that they aren't uncomfortable by the idea of that privacy being compromised,” Parris said.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.