Survey Finds IT Industry Must Address Consumer Fears About Technology

In a recent survey of more than 2,600 adults around the world, Research+Data Insights examined how companies can modify their technology strategy to adapt to changing consumer trends. The data suggests that many people see value in the way technology improves their lives, but also worry that technology is allowing companies to collect too much personal information. Even worse they fear that the same technology they have come to rely on will end up taking their jobs away. This slide show will cover the study that seeks to show the IT companies what people think, like, and dislike about the technology they’re using every day.

Technology is impacting both the average person’s personal and professional lives. But 70 percent of respondents to the Research+Data Insights study found that technology advances are having a greater impact on their personal lives than professional lives. Younger people, including millennials, are more likely to say technology impacts their personal lives than those who are in older generations.

More than nine out of 10 respondents to the survey said that technology has positively impacted their lives in both personal and professional ways. According to Research+Data Insights, technology is “making our lives easier” and using the right technology professionally can help people “gain the upper hand” in the competitive landscape.

Although people are generally pleased with technology, 53 percent of them said that it’s also negatively affected their lives by making it more difficult to hold conversations with people. Four in ten respondents said that technology makes people “more impatient,” and 39 percent of respondents said that technology is reducing their attention spans.

Privacy is one of the chief concerns consumers have about the technology companies are creating with 85 percent of respondents saying they worry about technology compromising their personal privacy. The results prompted Research+Data Insights to recommend companies think seriously about what they’re investing in and how it impacts consumers.

In its study, Research+Data Insights found that 34 percent of people “worry” that the machines they’re using, including smartphones and computers, are “invading their privacy” in one form or another.

When it comes to their work lives, 29 percent of respondents told the company that they are “concerned” that technological advances will at some point prompt their employers to replace them with machines.

Science fiction stories appear to be causing some concern among people. In fact, the researcher found that 21 percent of consumers are actually “concerned” that at some point in the future, machines could take over the world from humans.

Consumers are keenly aware that the latest technology collects data on them. And 83 percent of those people said that they’re concerned about what organizations do with personal information once it’s collected and stored away on computers.

Worldwide, 53 percent of people say that they don’t even like the idea of organizations collecting their data and housing it in places they can’t control. However, that figure stands at 55 percent in the U.S. and 59 percent in Australia, where privacy concerns are widespread. In France, just 44 percent of people are worried about the data organizations have collected.

Companies will sometimes use data to create personalized services and experiences based on the information they’ve collected about a person. However, the survey showed that just 27 percent of people actually like that feature.