Poll: 44% of Millennials Trust Businesses with Their Private Information

by Alex Gauthier in Economy May 12, 2015

Gallup recently published a survey that found Millennials are more likely than any other generation to trust retail companies to keep their private information secure, despite the increase in high-visibility data breaches over the years. The generation least likely to trust companies they do business with are “traditionalists,” the Silent Generation (aged 70 and older).

According to Gallup, 44 percent of Millennials believe retailers and other companies keep their personal information private “all” or “most of the time.” Only 26 percent say companies they do business with keep their information private “little” or “none of the time.” The response is puzzling to some, while others believe it is only natural from a generation of tech natives.

“There is a school of thought about millennials and privacy suggesting that because millennials have never known a world without smartphones, apps, the Internet or computers — and the inherent risks to privacy these things pose — they should have lower expectations about the security of their personal information than other generations do. This is because, the thinking goes, everything is available online these days, and even information that is not easily accessible is increasingly vulnerable to hackers. But another perspective argues just the opposite. To its adherents, millennials should actually have higher expectations about the security of their personal information than other generations because they understand how technology works and are fully aware of the inherent risks, but believe technology will keep their personal information safe.” – Gallup

Gallup suggests that there is another theory that plays off the latter perspective: Millennials are simply “naive in the ways of the world.”

“In other words, millennials have the least life experience of all generations. A corollary of this view is that members of the oldest generation — traditionalists — should not only have the greatest life experience (and be more jaded or cynical as a result) but the lowest expectations of personal privacy.” – Gallup