DIN Consumer Council
Study „Consumer Security-Related Knowledge and Behaviour in the Digital Environment“ published – Consumers wish for greater transparency
Digitalisation and technological development are increasingly changing today’s society. Many tasks, which only a few years ago could only be done analogue, such as bank transfer, are today carried out via online banking on an internet browser or directly on a smartphone with the corresponding banking app. The Digitisation of daily life and the connectivity of smart devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) can simplify life and make lasting changes.
However, alongside these new opportunities and potential conveniences, risks relating to technical security are also finding their way into the lives of many consumers. A recent study on “Consumer Security-Related Knowledge and Behaviour in the Digital Environment”, commissioned by the DIN Consumer Council and conducted by ConPolicy (Institute for Consumer Policy), examined consumers’ level of knowledge, behaviour and preferences regarding the technical safety of IoT products through a representative online survey.
The key findings of the study are:
- IT security labels generally help consumers when purchasing IoT products.
- Consumers are willing to assume a high degree of personally responsibility for the security of their IoT devices.
- Consumers would like to see stricter rules in the approval of products or with regard to bans on unsafe products
- Consumers want more transparency about the security of digital devices.
Specifically for standardisation and the work of the DIN Consumer Council, this results in the following recommendations:
- A high level of consumer protection in IT security standards becomes even more important with the Cyber Resilience Act, as standards concretise the law.
- To ensure security be design, consumer interests must be consistently represented in IT standardisation projects.
- Standardisation should promote usable security by ensuring that instructions for use and security information are comprehensible, by setting the default for a high level of security and by developing technical security solutions.
The German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the DIN Consumer Council released a joint press statement on this topic (Press statement in German).
The study can be downloaded and used free of charge.
