Canadians preparing for the holidays agree their
personal data might be safe with banks and the public sector, but they do
not have as much faith in online retailers and the hospitality industry,
according to a new Angus Reid Public Opinion survey.
Conducted in November 2009, the survey asked a representative national
sample of 1,000 adults across Canada to rate their trust in various
industry sectors with their personal data during the holiday season.
Online retailers scored the lowest on the survey, with less than half of
Canadians (47 per cent) trusting them to protect their personal
information. The banking and financial industry were shown the most faith
by consumers with three in four Canadians (76 per cent) trusting these
types of organizations to protect their personal data such as name, phone
number, credit card details and home address.
Surveys commissioned by Symantec in the UK and Germany earlier this year
had similar results, with consumers on both sides of the Atlantic generally
lacking confidence in how well online retailers protect their data.
Overall, the Germans were least trusting, with results showing less faith
in any industry sector than either the UK or Canada. Canadian consumers
were generally more trusting than their European counterparts.
Wariness concerning personal data may be the result of the increasing
number of data breaches in Canada over recent years. According to the
Canadian Privacy Commissioner's 2008 Annual Report to Parliament, the
number of reported private-sector data breaches doubled from 23 in 2006 to
48 in 2007. This number increased again in 2008 with 65 incidents.(1)
"There is a general concern among consumers about the safety of personal
information," said Robert Hamilton, product marketing manager, Data Loss
Prevention, Symantec Corp. "One of the ways businesses can earn back
consumer confidence is by investing in the right technology and ensuring
proper protocols are in place to prevent a data breach from occurring."
Survey Highlights:
- When it comes to protecting personal information, trust levels across
all industry sectors tend to be higher in Quebec
- Women rate every industry sector as more trustworthy than do men when
it comes to protecting personal data
- Alberta is the only region in Canada where a majority of people
generally trust online retailers
- Younger Canadians (18-34) have significantly higher levels of trust in
online retailers than any other age group
- 35-54 year olds tend to be the most cynical when it comes to trusting
industry sectors to protect personal information.
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