The Weekly Breach Breakdown Podcast: Is it Secret? Is it Safe? - Are People Protecting Data? - S7E7

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Welcome to the Identity Theft Resource Center's (ITRC) Weekly Breach Breakdown for March 13, 2026. I'm Alex Achten, Vice President of Media Relations for the ITRC. Thanks to Sentilink for supporting the ITRC and this podcast. Each week, we review the latest events and trends in data security and privacy. Today, we will discuss whether or not consumers are protecting data.

Do you remember The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring from 2001? It was the first installment of the trilogy. I remember watching it with my parents in the theater. It was a bit long for a 9-year-old, but I vividly remember Gandalf’s urgent inquiry about the Ring: “Is it secret? Is it safe?” It is the ultimate reminder that visibility is the enemy of protection.

That saying was among the first that came to mind when I looked at Clutch’s survey on data security and privacy. Consumers care a lot about protecting data, but it can be questioned whether they are doing enough to protect it. Let’s look at some of the findings.

Clutch surveyed over 400 consumers to gauge their top concerns and current security threat habits. Ninety (90) percent of consumers say that protecting their personal privacy is either very or extremely important to them. However, only 55 percent of them are confident that they can protect their personal data online. In fact, 57 percent of respondents say their personal data has been compromised at least once. 

The protection of personal information is clearly important to consumers, but the guidance for good security and cyber-hygiene is often fragmented and unclear. Clutch claims that without a single model for managing privacy, consumers struggle to know where to focus their efforts or which actions actually reduce risk. This leads people to wait too long to follow best practices to protect personal data. 

Seventy-five (75) percent of those who have experienced a data breach have changed their behavior. That is the good news. The bad news? Thirty-six percent have not, suggesting many people wait until they experience a data breach to take the appropriate security measures. 

The survey results show that consumers are most concerned about identity theft (40 percent) and financial fraud (38 percent). Artificial intelligence could be accelerating those threats, making data protection harder and phishing attempts more convincing. 

That said, company breaches are the biggest risk. The most common ways personal data has been compromised are exposure during a company breach (30 percent), account hacking or unauthorized access (20 percent), identity theft (20 percent) and financial fraud (18 percent).

While consumers cannot control company breaches, they can control how they are protecting data. According to the survey, 72 percent of respondents use strong, unique passwords, 65 percent use multi-factor authentication and 43 percent regularly update their software and apps. Those are all important steps. However, there is more you can do, starting with adopting passkeys when available and freezing your credit. These are two of the most effective cyber-hygiene tips.

The ITRC has a cyber-hygiene quiz where you can test your knowledge and get tips on the best practices to adopt. To take the quiz, visit our company website, www.idtheftcenter.org, and click the banner at the top titled “Are You Cyber Safe?” Find Out Now! Take Our Quiz.”

Also, we only scratched the surface with the findings in Clutch’s survey. To view it in full, click here. Long story short, many consumers follow basic protections, but there is more we all can do when it comes to protecting data. Protect it with the same attentiveness as Gandalf did with the ring. 

If you want to know more about how to protect your business or personal information or think you have been the victim of identity theft, fraud or a scam, you can speak with an expert ITRC advisor on the phone, via text message, chat live on the web, or exchange emails during our normal business hours (6 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). Just visit our website to get started.

Thanks again to Sentilink for their support of the ITRC and this podcast. Please hit the like button for this episode and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

We will return next week with another episode of the Weekly Breach Breakdown. I’m Alex Achten. Until then, thanks for listening.