Does low online trust equate to users which are more risk-averse and so perhaps likely to be more security savvy?
Despite high digital media consumption and engagement, trust levels of web users in the UK remain low according to the newly published ‘Trust Index’ from digital PR and influence agency Jin. Overall trust levels settle out at 54 percent, and only banking services escape with any real credibility on 59 percent, while e-commerce sites are least trusted on 16 percent. Within its rather confusing variance in trust scoring metrics, UK users only reached a 3.4 out of five level of trust when making a purchase and a shocking two out of five for sharing personal information on social media, so it’s hard not to be concerned.
By the Oxford dictionary definition of trust, which describes it as a “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something,” the Internet has failed on all counts across many years. Or has it? Could a low level of trust actually be, believe it or not, a good thing as far as security is concerned? That’s what we’ve been trying to determine.
