Privacy concerns on the rise
High-profile privacy breaches have Kiwis on edge, with more than two-thirds worried about online security.
A biannual survey by the Privacy Commission involving 1600 New Zealanders found 67 per cent were concerned about their individual privacy, up 2 per cent from two years ago.
Recent breaches included Uber’s loss of 57 million users information, Facebook’s allowing Cambridge Analytica to access
64,000 Kiwi’s information, and the breach of Vector’s outage app that revealed personal information of
24,000 customers.
‘‘It’s continuing a trend that we’ve seen in our surveys which we conduct every two years,’’ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards said.
‘‘If we were to start seeing a reduction in the number of significant corporate leakages of data that might have some effect [on reversing the trend].’’
Regulation of companies that handled personal data was beginning to catch up with the times, which Edwards said would also boost confidence.
‘‘The pace of the tech sector is a factor there. The tools are increasingly democratised and available to low capital start ups. Law reform moves pretty slowly.’’
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect in Europe at the end of the month will have the power to impose fines up to €20 million or 4 per cent of annual worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
‘‘I think that before too long we will start to see some real consequences for companies that fail to take their obligations seriously.’’
NetSafe chief executive Martin Cocker said it was not what Kiwis felt but what they were willing to do to keep their data safe which was the real question. Akaroa’s The Little Bistro owner Richard Uttley has no regrets over banning children under 10.
He’s actually had the policy for nearly three years, but it was only noticed in a big way at the weekend when a woman complained about being turned away.
On its web page the restaurant says: ‘‘Out of respect for other diners we no longer accept reservations with children