Legislators and regulators are people too. They listen to consumers. They consider their own fears and concerns about issues in the marketplace. They read stories in the media. As a result, legislators propose and pass laws that reflect the world – and its concerns – around them. Regulators plan enforcement focuses based, at least in part, on those concerns as well. This means that every time there is a negative story that hits the media, a company in another jurisdiction faces regulatory or legal challenges because of something they allegedly did wrong, a class action lawsuit plaintiff wins against a defending company, or a critical report comes out about wrongs or problems in a particular area – there is significant impact on laws that pass and enforcement actions on existing laws around the world.
The privacy world is no exception. There is an elevator effect in privacy whenever media stories, data breaches, regulatory actions, new privacy laws, and public outcry occur related to data protection. Consumers worry. Regulators pay attention. New laws pass. Enforcement goes up. Moreover, this is not a theoretical prediction for privacy anymore. We are seeing this trend now, and companies will do well to pay attention.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
- Consumer concerns about data privacy
- The gap between expectations and legislation
- Why trust matters in data handling
- Stop hiding behind a legalese Privacy Notice
- Prioritize the privacy customer experience
- Provide and honor choices
Consumer concerns about data privacy
A 2024 Consumer Reports study found that 78% of consumers support additional privacy legislation. Similarly, a Pew Research study found that 72% of consumers want additional privacy legal protections. About the same percentage of consumers mistrust how companies handle their personal information.
The gap between expectations and legislation
Even company representatives support more privacy law. In its 2025 Data Privacy Benchmark study, Cisco found that an overwhelming 86% of respondents, which were privacy and security professionals in 12 countries, support more privacy, citing positive impact on business operations. In other words, despite operational and compliance risk challenges that more legislation may bring, professionals in the field understand that consumer trust is key to the bottom line, and that additional legislation may enhance that consumer trust. There is some empirical evidence to support this link of legislation and trust. One study suggests that 81% of consumers who are aware of privacy laws feel privacy-protected, as compared with only 44% of consumers who are unaware of privacy laws.
Why trust matters in data handling
With all of this in the background, it is no wonder that experts predict more privacy laws, lawsuits, and enforcement. One source predicts “stricter regulations and compliance” in 2025. For consumers, that means gaining control over their personal information (and demanding more from the companies they trust). For businesses, it means navigating an increasingly complex web of regulations, technological challenges, and consumer expectations.”
This tipping point of consumer demand and regulator attention represents both challenges and opportunities. While noncompliance and other legal risk go up in an era of high enforcement and complicated regulatory environment, giving consumers what they want also enhances trust and revenue. Privacy investments tend to return much more than they consume, and the resulting consumer trust, engagement, and loyalty add to the bottom line in many more ways than just the cost avoidance of legal or regulatory action.
Marketing, IT, customer experience, and compliance teams are poised to have real impact on the bottom line. Here are a few ROI-positive actions that these teams can take to position the company for a data-complicated 2025 and beyond:
- Stop hiding behind a legalese privacy notice.
- Prioritize the privacy customer experience.
- Provide and honor choices.
Stop hiding behind a legalese Privacy Notice
Gone are the days of a long, hard-to-read privacy notice with vague statements that do not mean anything in the ‘real world.’ Not only are regulators focused on forcing companies to adopt accurate and clear notices, but consumers are reading and evaluating privacy statements – and demanding more clarity. Companies interested in meeting consumer and regulator demands for transparency are instead adopting simple, understandable, and concrete notices.
The best transparency experience may include more than one notice across the customer journey. This allows the company to explain practices in a just-in-time manner, in context with what the customer is trying to accomplish.
Prioritize the privacy customer experience
In a customer’s mind, their personal data and the company’s data handling practices is not separate from their overall interactions with a company. Customers want their privacy to be an integrated part of their experience. With that in mind, companies should craft an end-to-end customer experience that addresses privacy, but where privacy is not a separate interruption. Rather, privacy becomes a component of a smooth, low-barrier, and clear experience.
Provide and honor choices
More than anything, consumers (and regulators) are clearly saying that they want control over their personal data. A company that provides choices with an appropriate level of granularity and for activities that customers value will earn the chance to collect the information they need to conduct business. A company that follows through on those choices – operationalizing accurately and completely those choices – will earn customer trust and loyalty for the future.
Though simple to say, providing the right choices and operationalizing those choices consistently and compliantly is harder to do. Technology, like a consent management platform, can help manage the complexity that a granular set of choices brings – but regardless of the mechanism, the time and cost investment is well spent.
Summary
Most privacy legislation and enforcement are almost guaranteed, in part because of consumer demand. Companies that take the lead in placing privacy front and center will not only avoid the costs of litigation and regulatory action that noncompliance brings, but they will also benefit from meeting customer demands related to personal data, engendering trust, loyalty, and a corresponding lift in revenue.
A few key actions that companies can take:
- Providing clear, integrated transparency about practices
- Prioritizing and integrating privacy into the end-to-end customer experience
- Providing and accurately managing a granular set of privacy choices
Privacy pitfalls: Mitigate risk with Consent and Preference Management
When it comes to the implementation of a privacy framework, professionals oftentimes encounter challenges along the way.
Our latest guide addresses common pitfalls to implementing a privacy program, including:
- Understanding the role of consent
- Measures to stay compliant with data regulations
- Maintaining transparency in data privacy practices
- How Consent and Preference Management can be utilized
