Gen Z’s complex relationship with data privacy differentiates the group from their older counterparts. Certain policies are table stakes for Gen Zers, and they are also more jaded about companies’ mishandling of data, creating a strategic outline for brands looking to plan for the next generation of consumers.
Gen Z has a complicated view of one of the most important issues facing brands today: data privacy.
The topic is already a difficult one: Previous research shows that the term means different things to different people in different settings. Now, further study builds on these nuances, revealing which data privacy policies the next generation will demand of businesses and how they differ from what older consumers expect.
Gen Z came of age during a major moment in data privacy. The global conversation around the topic shifted following the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The incident altered the public’s view of major technology companies from great innovators and drivers of the economy to entities that need more oversight. Massive regulatory efforts like the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act have since gone into effect, with more on the way, representing a break in consumers’ trust in tech companies to sufficiently safeguard people’s data.
Now, with more protections in place, consumers are coming to expect companies to get data privacy right, and doing good by users in this space is less of a differentiator than it once was.
Around half (52%) of consumers say that keeping data private and secure is a baseline expectation they have of companies, and doing that alone does not make them think better of a company. A third of adults are still willing to give companies more credit, thinking better of brands that get data privacy right. And here is where we see Gen Zers’ first deviation from other generations — despite growing up in a largely digital environment, they are more likely not to voice an opinion on what they expect from companies vis-a-vis data privacy.
Respondents were asked which of the following statements they agree with most:
Gen Zers also find it significantly less surprising than older adults when companies do things like give them the option to set an expiration date on the data they collect, list out the information they store or choose not to store data at all.
Furthermore, the youngest generation is more jaded than others on this topic, finding it less surprising if a company stores data in a way that exposes it to a breach or asks for information without explaining what it will be used for.
Shares of respondents who would find it “very” or “somewhat” surprising if a company did the following:
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