Australians increasingly worried about online privacy, 48 per cent say social media is biggest privacy risk
WORRIED about who's snooping on your data? You're not alone.
WORRIED about who's snooping on your data? You're not alone.
The latest results from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's longitudinal study of attitudes to privacy finds Australians are increasingly worried about the risks.
Almost half believe online services pose the greatest privacy risk while fewer than one in 10 thinks social media websites are trustworthy when it comes to protecting users' privacy.
The other big risks people were worried about were ID fraud and theft, data security, and the risks to financial data in general.
A majority of people believed most or all websites and smartphone apps collect user information and were uncomfortable with that practice.
Yet a half don't read online privacy policies while under a third of people habitually falsify their name or details to protect themselves.
Commissioner John McMillan said there had been significant change over the past five years in how people communicate online.
Attitudes to the importance of personal privacy protection had changed at the same time, he said.
A third of those surveyed had problems with the way their personal information was handled some time during the past year.
Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said the survey results made it clear the Australian public insisted their personal information was handled with the highest possible privacy standards.
He pointed to the finding that three in five Australians had decided not to deal with an organisation because of privacy concerns.
This is up from two in five when the survey was last conducted in 2007.
"There is a business imperative for organisations to be transparent about their personal information handling practices and to ensure that privacy is built in to systems and processes right from the beginning," he said in a statement.
Organisations could not afford to relax when it came to proper data security, he said.
The survey found the most trusted institutions for data privacy were health service providers, financial institutions and government.
Results from the survey of 1000 people will be published online.
PRIVATE LIVES: AUSTRALIAN ATTITUDES TO PRIVACY
* 48 per cent think online services including social media pose greatest risk to privacy
* 23 per cent think ID fraud and theft is the greatest risk
* 16 per cent think data security is the greatest risk
* 11 per cent think general risks to financial data are the greatest
* 69 per cent are worried about falling victim to ID fraud in the next year
* 90 per cent won't give personal information online in some circumstances
* 51 per cent don't read online privacy policies
* 17 per cent have posted something on social media they regret
* 33 per cent of young people have posted something on social media they regret
* 49 per cent are reluctant to give their financial details to organisations
* 90 per cent trust health service providers to protect their privacy
* 74 per cent trust financial institutions
* 69 per cent trust government
* 9 per cent trust social media websites
* 96 per cent expect to be informed if their personal information is lost