Holiday Shoppers More Worried They Will Be Victims of ID Theft Than of Pickpockets

More than eight in every 10 U.S. consumers say they will be less willing to shop at retailers this holiday season that experienced past data breaches than at those that didn't, said a Thursday survey report from Generali Global Assistance. The supplier of identity theft protection tools canvassed 1,016 adults in early October and found 38 percent were unsure if businesses were doing enough to safeguard their personal information, it said. “Those who plan to shop for the holidays expressed concern about their financial or personal information being compromised due to a data breach,” with 75 percent of those questioned “indicating that they are either very or somewhat concerned about such a breach,” it said. Slightly more than half of those canvassed (57 percent) said they think a data breach of an online merchant “will pose the greatest identity theft threat this holiday season,” while 22 percent view a data breach of a brick-and-mortar point-of-sale system “to be the most acute risk,” it said. Data breaches “weigh much more heavily on holiday shoppers’ minds” than being pickpocketed (11 percent), or having their cars broken into (10 percent) “when it comes to identity theft,” it said.