Author: Asha McLean / Source: ZDNet
A report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has revealed that only 53 percent of people it surveyed were able to nominate an organisation to report the misuse of their information to.
The OAIC said that when asked, only 47 percent admitted awareness of a Privacy Commissioner — either federal or state level — but a mere 7 percent said they would report misuse of information to a Privacy Commissioner.
Rather, 12 percent would prefer to report such acts to the police, and 9 percent would rather directly contact the organisation involved.
The 2017 Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey (ACAPS) found that Australians have awarded the highest level of trust to health service providers, followed by financial institutions, and then both state and federal government departments.
Of the 1,800 Australians surveyed, 16 percent said they would avoid dealing with a government agency because of privacy concerns, while 58 percent would avoid dealing with a private company for the same reasons.
A number of questions revealed that while 46 percent of respondents are comfortable with government agencies using their personal details for research or policy-making purposes, 40 percent are not comfortable, with the balance still unsure.
The report [PDF] found that 34 percent of those questioned were comfortable with the government sharing their personal information with other government agencies, while only 10 percent are comfortable with businesses sharing their information with other organisations.
In regards to trading personal information for rewards and benefits, 33 percent said they would, with 32 percent of total respondents similarly saying they would trade personal information for better customer service.
20 percent would do so for the chance to win a prize, the report said.
On the topic of misuse of information, those surveyed considered examples to be an organisation that a person has not dealt with before obtaining their personal information; personal information being revealed to other customers; and personal information being used for…
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