Cisco released its 2025 Data Privacy Benchmark Study. The report looks at global trends in data privacy and how they affect businesses. The study gathered responses from 2,600 privacy and security experts in 12 countries. It highlights the need for strong data privacy practices to fully benefit from AI.
Privacy remains core to customer trust (Source: Cisco)
“Privacy and proper data governance are foundational to Responsible AI,” said Dev Stahlkopf, Cisco Chief Legal Officer. “For organizations working toward AI readiness, privacy investments establish essential groundwork, helping to accelerate effective AI governance.”
Safety worries push companies toward local data storage
Despite higher costs linked to data localization, 90% of organizations believe local storage is safer. At the same time, 91% trust global providers to protect their data, which is an increase of five points from last year. These findings show the complexity businesses deal with today: global providers offer strong data protection, yet local storage still feels safer.
“The drive for data localization reflects rising interest in data sovereignty ” said Harvey Jang, Cisco’s Chief Privacy Officer. “Yet, a thriving, global digital economy relies on trusted cross-border data flows. Interoperable frameworks such as the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum will play a vital role in enabling growth while effectively addressing crucial privacy and security concerns.”
Strong returns on privacy investment benefits
Privacy legislation remains a cornerstone of customer trust, with 86% of respondents noting a positive impact on their organizations, up from 80% last year. Despite the costs associated with compliance, a resounding 96% of organizations report that the returns significantly outweigh the investments.
This sentiment is echoed by the increasing consumer awareness and confidence in privacy laws mentioned in the 2024 Cisco Consumer Privacy Survey, where most global consumers (53%) said they are aware of their country’s privacy laws. Among those aware, 81% feel confident in their ability to protect their data, compared to just 44% of those unaware of such laws.
Organizations continue to invest steadily in data privacy, averaging $2.7 million annually over the past four years. Appreciation for the benefits of compliance has supported this consistent spending. Medium-sized businesses (250-499 employees), larger organizations (500-999 employees), large enterprises (1,000-9,999 employees), and very large enterprises (10,000+ employees) have all increased their privacy budgets year over year. Meanwhile, smaller organizations (50-249 employees) have reduced their spending.
Privacy emerges as essential to responsible AI amid GenAI growth
As familiarity with AI increases, concerns remain steady year-over-year. Despite many organizations reporting significant business gains from GenAI, data privacy is still a major risk. Notably, 64% of respondents worry about inadvertently sharing sensitive information publicly or with competitors, yet nearly half admit to inputting personal employee or non-public data into GenAI tools. This gap highlights the need for tools like Cisco’s AI Defense which safeguard against the misuse of AI tools and data leakage.
In turn, there is an increased focus on investing in AI governance processes among respondents, where an overwhelming 99% of respondents anticipate reallocating resources from privacy budgets to AI initiatives in the future. The 2024 Cisco AI Readiness Index emphasizes this trend, revealing that IT budget allocations are anticipated to nearly double in the coming year as companies work to safely deploy AI technology.
