Privacy considerations become corporate value. Consumer awareness survey on data utilization

The results show that while 10.1% of consumers responded "I don't feel uneasy" or "I don't feel very uneasy," a total of 64.1% responded "I sometimes feel uneasy" or "I feel uneasy."

Comparing by gender, women tended to feel more uneasy, while by age group, unease increased with age.

Responses to other questions also revealed that consumers' acceptance of data provision and their level of concern varied depending on consumer attributes, the company's purpose for using the data, and the specific data items being provided. This sense of unease appears to be shaped by complex conditions. Later, Mr. Harada from Macromill will explain these consumer concerns:

Are companies' privacy protection efforts sufficient?

When asked, "What do you think about companies' privacy protection efforts?", the following responses were obtained.

*Percentage composition (%) is rounded to the second decimal place, so the total may not always add up to 100%.

Approximately 60% of consumers want companies to provide transparent policies and explanations for privacy protection.

This indicates that companies' privacy protection efforts are either insufficient or not reaching consumers. Let's consider why.

Only 20% read privacy policies. What's the solution?

The most common method for communicating a company's privacy protection efforts to consumers is the "privacy policy." In response to recent regulatory changes, many companies have revised their privacy policies.

But how many consumers actually read these privacy policies?

The Privacy Center can clearly convey, using illustrations, detailed data usage methods and purposes that are difficult to communicate in a privacy policy, as well as the company's messages and guidelines designed to earn customer trust and encourage them to entrust their data.

A survey on privacy centers found that nearly half of consumers responded that they are "easier to understand and read than privacy policies."

To ensure consumers feel secure entrusting their data to companies and to utilize data only after obtaining clear consent, diverse approaches are necessary.

Privacy Centers are one such means. Dentsu Group also supports companies in revising and establishing privacy policies, as well as introducing Privacy Centers to explain matters clearly to consumers.

Privacy is closely linked to corporate branding strategies.

Finally, to examine whether privacy protection initiatives enhance consumers' trust and favorability toward companies, we presented specific company names to monitors and surveyed whether "a company's privacy protection efforts increase favorability toward that company."

Examples of privacy protection initiatives include:

■Providing explanations to consumers through privacy policies and privacy centers
■Conducting PIAs (Privacy Impact Assessments)
■ Managing consumer consent using tools like Consent Management Platforms (CMPs)
■Implementation of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs)

Survey results indicate that implementing privacy protection initiatives led 40.1% of respondents to "view the company favorably," 13.1% to "not view it favorably (their view remains unchanged even with initiatives)," and 46.8% to be "unsure (depends on the details)."

Privacy protection initiatives are not yet sufficiently established in Japan, and consumer awareness remains low. This makes it difficult for consumers to visualize companies' privacy protection efforts, resulting in a large undecided segment (consumers who answered "can't say" or "don't know"). However, excluding the undecided segment, the number of consumers who "feel favorably" is more than three times greater than those who "do not feel favorably."

Privacy protection efforts are often viewed merely as defensive measures to comply with laws and regulations. However, they should be considered as a branding strategy to enhance a company's favorability and trustworthiness.

Moving forward, Dentsu Inc. and Dentsu Digital Inc. plan to examine the relationship between privacy protection measures and various metrics companies set as KPIs, such as "purchase intent," "continued usage," and "corporate image," broken down by industry sector.

※CMP (Consent Management Platform): A tool used to obtain consent from users of web services and other platforms for the collection and use of data ( ). Also known as a consent management platform.

Data Utilization in a New Era Prioritizing Consumer Privacy Protection

As we've seen, relying solely on traditional methods—presenting consumers with confusing privacy policies, unilaterally obtaining "consent," and then utilizing data—can potentially have a negative impact on companies. In other words, it's a "negative."

However, it has also become clear that implementing privacy protection initiatives tends to increase consumer goodwill toward companies. Sincere privacy protection efforts that genuinely engage with consumers are not merely about turning negatives into zeros; they are also positive branding initiatives that enhance consumer goodwill.

Privacy protection is a crucial element for building trust with consumers and also holds the key to unlocking new possibilities in data marketing.

Dentsu Inc. and Dentsu Digital Inc. are committed to providing comprehensive support for companies to utilize data while respecting consumer privacy.

Here is the "equation" to solve corporate data privacy challenges!

Furthermore, while not directly visible to consumers, privacy tech solutions like "secure computation"—enabling analysis of encrypted data—and "data clean rooms"—enhancing security in inter-company data sharing—are also recognized as important.

Clearly communicating these privacy measures is expected to further improve consumer acceptance.

This survey by Dentsu Inc. and Dentsu Digital Inc. provided valuable insights into the current consumer mindset. Moving forward, I expect further research will be conducted to measure the privacy protection levels specific to each client. As survey results accumulate, I hope they will help clarify how much consumer acceptance can be improved by each privacy protection measure.

The extent to which corporate branding and CRM activities—which constitute "trust and favorability toward data recipients"—influence consumer acceptance is precisely where the Dentsu Group excels. Therefore, I have high expectations for the completion of the "consumer acceptance equation."