The ghost of Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott still walks, at least according to some interesting new data from research firm Javelin that follows the TJ Maxx data heist.
According to a study just published, consumers believe that retailers are not doing enough to keep their credit or debit card information out of the hands of criminals, with 63% of consumers believing that retailers are the least secure in terms of protecting their account information,

And nearly half of all consumers say that if they found out that their account information had been compromised, retailers would be most likely to blame.
More importantly, and more likely to spur retailers to invest in ever more security, was the finding that only 20% of consumers said they would likely continue shopping at a store if they learned it had a data breach that may have compromised their card account information, while 78% said they would be unlikely to continue to shop there.
Maybe some good will come out of the TJ Maxx data breach after all. Consumers are getting smarter and realizing where to place the blame. They’re also punishing with their pocket books, supporting companies that show a real commitment to security and boycotting companies that don’t.

I hate being right, especially when bad things happen. But most retailers I know are doing the very minimum they can when it comes to security, instead of making it their top priority. I think it was the Irish who invented the whole notion of the boycott (against a troublesome land agent called Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott) and I also think it’s one of the few weapons we as consumers have against businesses that allow our data to leak and our identities to hurt.