The values were never good, but the trust values for handling personal data are now devastating for Russian and Chinese IT companies.
Confidence in IT companies with headquarters in Russia and China and in their handling of personal data has fallen rapidly among German users compared to 2021. This is the result of a representative survey of 1,014 people aged 16 and over, explains the Bitkom industry association.
Destroyed trust
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has almost completely destroyed trust in IT providers from Russia, they say. But Bitkom asked the question more specifically: “How much do you generally trust IT manufacturers or service providers from the following countries when it comes to handling your personal data?”
Only three percent of Internet users would currently trust IT manufacturers or IT service providers from Russia to handle their personal data. A year ago, the proportion was still 13 percent. Similarly, low numbers have also been collected for trust in Chinese companies and their handling of personal data. Here the value has more than halved from seven to three percent.
Confidence in German and European companies has grown
According to the survey, providers from Germany enjoy the greatest level of trust, and this trust has even increased visibly compared to the previous year, from 56 to 64 percent. The other EU countries have also gained, from 43 to 48 percent. Great Britain, which left the EU as a result of Brexit, did not have to lose any trust, and here too the increase from 35 to 42 percent is clearly visible.
While Russia and China have already fallen from low values to even less, the USA can look forward to more confidence on the part of the Germans. A year ago, 23 percent of users trusted US IT to handle personal data; in 2022, the figure will be 28 percent. India’s values rose from 17 to 22 percent. When asked about Ukraine, 24 percent of those surveyed put their trust in the country’s IT companies. However, there is no comparative value for 2021.
Bitkom President Achim Berg pointed out that “it takes years, if not decades, to build trust – it is destroyed within a few days and weeks. Tech companies based in authoritarian countries are feeling the effects of this.”
Withdrawal from Russian and Chinese markets
With the start of the war of aggression in Ukraine in February this year, large international IT companies announced that they would suspend or end business with Russia. The retreat is sometimes more difficult than initially thought. Among other things, SAP is still busy with the reversal.
While the attitude towards Russia has been quite clear for European and American companies since the escalation in February, the attitude towards China is much more cautious, although international tensions have also grown here – among other things because of the threat to Taiwan or the treatment of the population in China Hong Kong .
TechAint 