Customer identity, privacy considered a competitive differentiator by three quarters of businesses

Safeguarding customer identity and privacy is considered a competitive differentiator by 75 percent of businesses, according to research conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by ForgeRock.

The survey of 400 decision makers from businesses around the world found that protecting customer privacy is considered a critical overall business priority by 79 percent, and 80 percent say security and privacy considerations are considered from the beginning in the development of new products, services, and apps.

More than 6 in 10 say their organization has been influenced by each of AI and IoT, but 60 percent say the required security measures have increased their organization’s deployment times. More than half of organizations are struggling with retaining the AI staff they need, and more than half are also finding it difficult to store and secure the data generated by IoT.

Most organizations said that using Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) technology, such as the ForgeRock Identity Platform, helps better secure customer identities, reduce the risk of customer data breaches, and generate insights from customer data. Those with mature CIAM use are 20 to 52 percent more likely to say that their security plans enable the achievement of top-level business objectives, like winning, serving, and retaining customers.

Despite this, only 48 percent use a CIAM solution, with 61 percent using extensions of employee identity and access management (IAM) systems as stand-ins, according to the research. Organizations are increasing the identity and authorization mechanisms they support, with 48 percent using some form of biometrics, 62 percent deploying two-factor authentication, and 61 percent allowing social media login.

“Consumer consciousness around data privacy and security has increased immensely in the past few years, forcing businesses to make customer privacy a business imperative,” said Eve Maler, Vice President of Innovation & Emerging Technology, ForgeRock. “Concurrently, the influx of AI and IoT-enabled technologies has created vulnerabilities in many data chains. However, the core of AI and IoT-enabled entities is a digital identity imperative that can, and must, be understood and managed. CIAM strategies are key to unlocking the true value of AI and IoT technologies as they uniquely enable companies to deliver the highest level of customer data privacy and the seamless experience today’s consumers are increasingly demanding and expecting.”

ImageWare’s GoVerifyID was recently added to the ForgeRock Identity Platform.

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  ForgeRock  |  identity management  |  privacy