Half of Consumers Perceive Security and Privacy as Obstacles to IoT Adoption

Some 47% of consumers in 28 countries avoid buying IoT devices because they lack security and pose privacy risks, while 62% think they are too expensive, a survey shows.

“Security has moved from being a nagging problem to a top barrier as consumers are now choosing to abandon IoT devices and services over security concerns,” the report notes. “More than two-thirds of the consumers surveyed are aware of the recent security breaches such as hacker attacks resulting in stolen data or malfunction. Out of the consumers aware of hacker attacks and owning or planning to own IoT devices in the next five years, 18 percent decided to terminate the use of the devices and related services until they get safety guarantees.”

Another 24 percent decided to put off buying an IoT device or service subscription due to concerns over security. Overall, 47 percent cited “privacy risk/ security concerns” as a barrier to adoption with Indonesia (60 percent), South Africa and China (both 58 percent) reporting the greatest concerns. This indicates the consumer technology industry does not have the fundamentals in place – nor the consumer trust’needed to push into more personalized and sensitive areas as it searches for the next wave of innovation.

The Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES, on Monday predicted that US sales of smart-home devices will grow 21% to 8.9 million units in 2016, generating $1.2 billion in revenue, The Journal says.

Consumers also report that price is the top barrier to the purchase of IoT devices, with 62 percent saying they are too expensive. Mature markets are only slightly less concerned about price than emerging markets. Russia, Romania and the Philippines report the highest share of consumers who say price is a barrier, authors of the study underline.

Accenture’s survey was conducted online in October and November 2015, with 28,000 consumers in 28 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.