Offshoring call center jobs could compromise consumer data In recent years, many industries — including call center providers — have chosen to run their operations outside of the United States. The primary reason for these moves are to cut costs. While working offshore and hiring foreign workers may save a few dollars here or there, the risk of offshoring call center jobs far outweighs the benefits, especially when it comes to the protection of consumer data. In October 2013, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) released a report outlining how many corporations have put personal information at risk by sending call center jobs outside of the country. Here are a few of the report’s most important points: Identity theft is prevalent Identity theft can happen anywhere, but outside of the United States it’s not uncommon for corrupt governments to be in collusion with scammers. The CWA report cites the example of the Tunisian government injecting malicious code into email and social networking sites. “Of course, security and privacy breaches can happen in the United States as well as overseas, but in a country with a weaker rule of law than the United States, civil and criminal prosecution is more difficult,” the report states. “U.S. companies that outsource work are responsible for security breaches, but may try to shift liability to their offshore partners. In that case, the problem for consumers is the difficulty of enforcing liability in countries with weak data protection laws.” Weak enforcement is common overseas The United States and some European nations have strict laws and regulations that can protect consumers if their data is stolen. Identity thieves are also severely punished to deter this type of behavior from happening again. Outside of this handful of western nations, however, rules are vague and consequences are almost non-existent. Using a domestic inbound call center will allow you to provide your customers with a high quality experience without the fear of fraud or theft.