Silence Laboratories and Scaling Trust Report Highlights Gaps in User Perception and Realities of Consented Data Sharing
Read the full report here:
- ~72% respondents believe that financial institutions collect more data than what is required
- ~80% respondents feel well informed via consent notices, yet we’ve witnessed over 1.14M cybercrimes amounting to INR 7400 Cr in the financial sector
- Respondents associate data privacy with security and consent, with ~71% trusting consent mechanisms as a secure way to share data
- This trust exists despite cybersecurity regulatory frameworks potentially lagging up to 40.5x behind top-tier tech businesses in India
Silence Laboratories, a leading privacy tech company, and Scaling Trust, a think tank dedicated to bridging trust gaps, have released a comprehensive report unveiling significant disparities between user perceptions and the actual risk landscape in financial data sharing in India. The findings emphasize the urgency of addressing these gaps to safeguard India’s burgeoning digital economy.
*With similar data-sharing frameworks in place, the learnings can be extrapolated to other countries and industries.
Based on a survey conducted by Silence Laboratories of an exclusive filtered set of 200 users who have had past experience with consent notices and mechanisms in digital financial services in India, ~80% found these notices by financial institutions clear, and ~75% respondents felt in control over the data they want to share. Trust in data-sharing practices has also grown, particularly with the implementation of formal consent mechanisms, with ~71% respondents expressing assurance in consented data sharing practices. While this apparent comfort and trust seems rosy at first, diving deeper reveals a crucial disconnect.
Many respondents admitted to being unaware of or lacking control over the specific terms of data sharing, especially around data refresh and revocation, and only 1 out of 20 people (5.9%) actually reported having control over all aspects of data sharing. 72% respondents believe that financial institutions collect more data than what is required, with a resounding 86% of users express a desire for granular control over data sharing.
There is also widespread confusion between privacy, data security, and consented sharing, all of which are exacerbated by the increasing prevalence of cybercrimes. Over 1.14 million cybercrimes in the financial sector have led to losses amounting to INR 7400 Cr, painting a far less optimistic picture.
The report identifies several factors contributing to these issues, including low cyber risk literacy driven by inadequate foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) scores, insufficient public awareness, and an education system that has not adapted to the demands of the digital age.
The booming financial industry requires relentless evolution in consent mechanisms.
The Indian financial sector is making strides globally, with around 14.4 billion monthly UPI transactions in July 2024 and data transactions via the Account Aggregator ecosystem expected to reach 5 billion by 2027.
Despite challenges in financial inclusion, technologies like UPI & Aadhaar were crucial to India’s economic rise. This success sets a strong precedent underscoring the importance of timely adoption of similar approaches like Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to address privacy challenges & strengthen digital financial ecosystems
Abhishek Rathi, Program Director at Scaling Trust, emphasizes, “Changing society’s view on privacy requires time, sustained effort & a blend of education, technology, and policy, especially in a rapidly digitizing country like India. The diverse tech skills & access levels means a single approach won’t work. While education & awareness are crucial, they alone can’t keep up with India’s fast digital growth. We need technologies that strengthen encryption and data minimization, empowering users with control over personal data sharing”.
What’s next for consent, the heart of privacy regulations?
Silence Laboratories discusses the success of consent mechanisms with legal experts and policymakers and brainstorms ideas with domain experts to fortify the existing systems. How to ensure that the data processing happens according to the consented terms? How to prevent cross-selling, misuse or theft of data which is fetched for a pre-defined purpose? How to move away from reactive and blanket consent mechanisms?
Dr. Jay Prakash, Co-Founder & CEO at Silence Laboratories comments, “The survey highlights a critical need for stronger data protection in India. We advocate for enhanced cryptographic safeguards using Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to ensure transparent and auditable consent, empowering customers to control their data. Processing should occur without data exposure, exchanging only inferences, with programmability linking consent and computation — ensuring that what customers consent to is precisely what is extracted, backed by mathematical guarantees”
About Silence Laboratories
Silence Laboratories is a Singapore based deep tech privacy company, co-founded by PhD holders with affiliations at MIT, NUS, UIUC, SUTD and IITs and over 40 years of combined experience in cybersecurity. We are a cryptography powerhouse with our expertise rooted in building Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs). With partners across various sectors including finance, digital assets, and data industries, Silence Laboratories is creating a data-sharing and computation ecosystem where consent and privacy-preserving analysis are mathematically coupled, ensuring compliance and security.
About Scaling Trust
Scaling Trust is a community for thinkers and doers dedicated to developing ideas for a new era where trust is an integral component shaping the global future. The organization aims to bridge the trust gap that divides communities, institutions, and individuals by creating a repository of insightful frameworks, strategic insights, and innovative tools to foster trust-centric experiences for a global society.
