With increasing frequency, we hear about data breaches at nationally known brands such as the recently announced exposure of AT&T phone records from 2022 as reported on July 12^th in the New York Times. Public concern about data privacy, however, is not confined to just the business community.  As shown in our recently released Give.org Special Donor Trust Report on Charity Accountability, when asked to consider the importance of assessing seven different accountability elements, 61% of survey participants ranked adequately protecting donor information as the third most important issue.

Further, when asked to imagine that a charity they personally support appears in the news for being hacked and having data stolen, 22.5% say they would no longer donate, and another 51.7% say would hold off on donating until they are satisfied that the issue is resolved.

• Across generations, more than 1 in 5 people (between 21.0% for Millennials and 24.1% for Gen Zers) say they would no longer donate to the charity upon learning that the charity had been hacked and data had been stolen.

• Among participants who would no longer give or would withhold donations until they feel satisfied that the issue is resolved, the following actions could inspire confidence to give again: the charity sending a message informing donors of new data security improvements (27.8%), the charity updating its privacy policy online describing improved security measures (26.8%), and verification from a third party that data is secure (26.0%).

• After a data breach, Gen Zers and Millennials are most likely to give again once they receive a message informing them of new data security improvements (31.6% and 33.2%) or based on updates to the privacy policy showing improved security measures (31.3% and 33.3%). Matures, Boomers, and Gen Xers are most likely to respond to verification from a third party that data is secure (29.4%, 30.4%, and 29.9% respectively).