The news: Customer identity solutions provider Telesign released its 2023 Telesign Trust Index, which showed that consumer fear of digital fraud is growing. All is not lost, however. The company also announced it is launching a new Continuous Trust™ Authority initiative to help make the digital world safer. Read the full announcement and the report here.
Telesign: Consumer Fear of Digital Fraud is Rising but All Trust is Not Lost
Analyst take: The most we can hope for as technologists is that when we see a potential digital issue, we attempt to fix it as a community. That’s exactly what Telesign is seeking to do with its Continuous Trust™ Authority program, and I hope it gains legs.
Telesign’s 2023 Telesign Trust Index was released May 11, and it was eye-opening. The study showed that online users are increasingly concerned about digital fraud. In fact, many said they’d rather be audited by the IRS than find themselves a digital fraud victim. At the same time, 70 percent of those surveyed agreed that businesses are the ones responsible for protecting the digital privacy of their customers. Nearly half said they would inform friends and family to no longer associate with a brand if a breach of personal data occurred.
None of the Trust Index findings are particularly shocking. We’ve known that digital fraud is increasing and that customers are holding brands responsible for keeping their data safe. The surprising part is that even with blockchain, two-factor authentication, and a growing number of international data privacy practices in place, we’re still dealing with an increase in digital fraud. Clearly, we need something bigger and more sweeping. That’s where Telesign’s Continuous TrustTM Authority program comes in.
Why We Like It
It’s practical. As part of the program, Telesign will award a symbol of digital trust to companies that create strong fraud protection standards not just in a single spot (i.e. during log-in or checkout), but throughout the entire customer journey. This allows consumers to shop more confidently online, knowing that the brands they choose to buy from have been pre-vetted by Telesign. The company is also set to create a new Trust Alliance, a group of experts in trust and digital identity who will work together to create best practices regarding fraud prevention and work with brands to create more trustworthy platforms in the digital sphere.
Will Telesign’s new report and Continuous Trust™ Authority program end digital fraud? Of course not. There will always be dangers when operating in a digital space. However, the more we in the technology sphere work together to establish standards, adhere to data privacy laws, and find new ways to tighten the digital marketplace, the closer we’ll be to creating a truly safe digital world.
Interested in becoming a business verified by the Continuous Trust™ Authority? Visit here for more information.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
NIST Launches the Trustworthy & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Resource Center
FBI 2022 Internet Crime Report Made Public by Internet Crime Complaint Center
Author Information
Daniel is the CEO of The Futurum Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise.
From the leading edge of AI to global technology policy, Daniel makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology investments. Daniel is a top 5 globally ranked industry analyst and his ideas are regularly cited or shared in television appearances by CNBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other sites around the world.
A 7x Best-Selling Author including his most recent book “Human/Machine.” Daniel is also a Forbes and MarketWatch (Dow Jones) contributor.
An MBA and Former Graduate Adjunct Faculty, Daniel is an Austin Texas transplant after 40 years in Chicago. His speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.