The 2025 edition of Twilio’s Customer Engagement Report highlights that reliability and transparency remain crucial for consumers and a challenge for companies in the AI era. Only 15% of consumers trust “completely” what brands do with their data, implying that 85% have doubts about the security and responsible management of their personal information.
Furthermore, an alarming fact is that 61% of consumers feel that brands do not truly care about their personal data, which directly affects the relationship between these parties. This is compounded by the fact that for companies, maintaining compliance is a real challenge, and 90% of them admit to this.
The report indicates that 53% of companies have had data protection and privacy issues, and 51% struggle with virtual security and threat reduction. “Changing this scenario is essential and urgent. Trust is essential in the relationship between a brand and its customer, and to maintain it, one must go beyond expectations. AI has opened pathways, but it is still fueled by data, which is central in business relationships”, says Tamaris Parreira, Twilio’s Country Manager for Brazil. “As the saying goes: trust takes years to build and seconds to lose”, she concludes.
For the executive, having the customer at the center of the equation is essential in solving this situation. Although it is a delicate situation, consumers want to share their data when there is a return in terms of personalization. They value this relationship, but it is necessary to be attentive to the types of data that are shared more securely by customers. These consumers generally feel comfortable sharing basic information, but when it comes to more personal data, they are more reserved. The types of personal information that consumers are less likely to share with companies are precisely their income level, their activities on social networks, their location, their position, and the status of their relationships.
What is important to ensure customer trust today
The new edition of the Twilio report pointed out that the factors shaping consumer trust are changing. In 2024, data protection led concerns, with 62% of consumers stating that this was the best way for a brand to earn their trust. By 2025, this number dropped to 54%, ranking third in consumer priorities.
The new perception is that responsive customer service and ease of returning items or receiving a refund are the two new major concerns of consumers, tied with 55% of respondents’ answers. It is a significant shift in the trust paradigm. “The focus now is reliability, it is getting back what can be lost, a reliable experience and, at the same time, frictionless. Trust is built through consistency and agility in service. Data security is still important, but we are in an era where much is already shared. Long-term relationships have a certain prominence,” explains Tamaris.
Building trust takes time, with consistency. The report points out the need to:
- Be transparent about data usage, explaining how data collection is done, how data is stored, especially when talking about AI;
- Focus on quick and efficient service;
- Maintain consistency across all service channels, knowing how to wait for responses and interactions;
- Keep promises of data protection and privacy;
- Be recognizable to the customer, maintaining your brand in communications, ensuring that communication is official.
“Trust, reliability, data security, acquiring and retaining customers. All of this is part of the same equation and are critical points that need to be prioritized. We are in a time where data is abundant. But it is still necessary that trust is not lacking,” concludes Tamaris.
