Banks are the institutions most trusted to protect individuals’ personal data, according to new Gallup research focusing on how millennials — those born roughly from 1980 to 2000 — view privacy and data security. Sixty-seven percent of millennials, and 56 percent of other generations, say they have “a lot of trust” in their primary banks to safeguard personal information.
Customers were more than twice as likely to say they trust banks than health insurance companies and credit card companies. They had very low expectations for how government agencies, online retailers and social networks would handle their personal data. However, for every category millennials were more likely than older generations to say they trusted the institution.
Overall, 44 percent of millennials said they trusted companies all or most of the time to protect their privacy. Only 32 percent of Generation Xers and baby boomers said the same, and just 29 percent of the pre-baby boom generation agreed.
