The new whitepaper, Circles of Trust 2023: Exploring Consumer Trust in the Digital Society found that while consumers were enthusiastic about digital offerings, from connected vehicles to digital health services, but they were equally wary of security risks around these digital services.

According to the study, less than 19 per cent of respondents don’t worry about their data security and 41 per cent believe that a connected world would make their everyday lives easier.

However, 36 per cent of respondents have been the victim of data loss, identity theft or digital fraud.

There was a marked distrust of digital services in the UK compared to other parts of the world, particularly regarding IoT devices and smart cities. However, only a few knew what Internet of Things meant or were likely to get it wrong.

UK respondents were the most likely of any group of respondents believe that smart technologies would not improve lives (17 per cent versus a global average of 10 per cent). Similarly, while only 21 per cent felt that they could define what a ‘smart city’ is compared to 31 per cent globally, 24 per cent saw no advantages to a smart city compared with a global average of 12 per cent.

Only two per cent of Brits have been affected by a ‘very damaging’ digital attack, compared to a global average of five per cent and a rate of nine per cent in the US, and they have the highest level of trust in their financial institutions to keep their data safe (72 per cent).