A new study from the Ponemon Institute has raised some major data security concerns in the UK. The study looked at email marketing practices and privacy, surveying more than 900 UK data protection and marketing professionals.

According to their study, the loss or theft of confidential data is “endemic” in the UK, with 61% of marketing professionals experiencing a data breach in the last 24 months. 90% of those data breaches went unreported. The survey indicates that people felt they were either not required, or were unsure, to report the data breaches to affected consumers.

Firms who outsource marketing functions have an increased risk of data breach incidents. The survey found that breaches were 42% more likely to be attributed to third parties than to in-house personnel. For those companies that outsource email marketing, the incidence of data breaches rises from 61% to 78%. This data highlights the importance of having a strong data security policy that extends to all third-parties.

Paul Bates, managing director of StrongMail UK, said: “A cavalier attitude towards outsourcing customer data to third-parties combined with complacent processes for keeping that data safe is a recipe for disaster. The fact is confidential customer data doesn’t travel well and providing it to third-parties for outbound marketing purposes can, as the research shows, be a risky proposition. This data is extremely valuable to most firms, and we advise them to think very carefully about how they keep it safe.”

Reducing costs was the primary reason to outsource online marketing campaigns, though firms admit that breaches have likely cost them new and existing customers.

The study indicated other troubling trends including the sharing of personal information with third parties (when not allowed).

View the Ponemon press release here [PDF] and the full study here.

Via computer weekly ; image: microsoft clipart ; Tags: email marketing, online marketing, marketing, breach, data breach, breach notification, notification, web marketing, consumer privacy