One in four entities banned GenAI use due to privacy, data security risks: Study

New Delhi: More than one in four organisations surveyed banned the use of Generative AI on account of privacy and data security risks, Cisco said citing findings of a global study.

The Cisco 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study relied on responses from 2,600 privacy and security professionals across 12 geographies including India, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.

The study reveals that most organisations are limiting the use of Generative AI (GenAI) over data privacy and security issues and that 27 per cent banned its use, at least temporarily.

"More than 1 in 4 organisations banned use of GenAI over privacy and data security risks," according to the study by the US network gear maker Cisco.

The findings underlined the growing privacy concerns with GenAI, trust challenges facing organisations over their use of AI, and the attractive returns from privacy investment.

The seventh edition of the benchmark found that privacy is much more than a regulatory compliance matter.

Among the top concerns, businesses cited the threats to an organisation’s legal and Intellectual Property rights (69 per cent), and the risk of disclosure of information to the public or competitors (68 per cent).

"Most organisations are aware of these risks and are putting in place controls to limit exposure: 63 per cent have established limitations on what data can be entered, 61 per cent have limits on which GenAI tools can be used by employees, and 27 per cent said their organisation had banned GenAI applications altogether for the time being," according to Cisco.

Still, many individuals have entered information that could be problematic, including employee information (45 per cent) or non-public information about the company (48 per cent).

“Organisations see GenAI as a fundamentally different technology with novel challenges to consider," as per Dev Stahlkopf, Cisco Chief Legal Officer.

More than 90 per cent of respondents believe GenAI requires new techniques to manage data and risk, Stahlkopf said, adding this is where thoughtful governance comes into play.