Kiwi privacy concerns increasing

WELLINGTON: More than half of New Zealanders are more worried about their individual privacy now than they were in the last few years, a new survey from the Privacy Commissioner says.

It showed four out of five people surveyed were most concerned about children putting information about themselves on the internet.

They were also very wary of businesses sharing personal information with other businesses.

Trust in government organisations and companies with personal information has fallen significantly — 62% said they trust government organisations with their personal information, a drop of 9% from when this was last measured in 2014.

Trust in companies was much lower this year at 32%.

The twiceayear survey, carried out by UMR Research, also asked respondents about drones and CCTV. More than 62% of respondents were concerned with the use of drones in residential areas.

Just over a third were concerned about the use of CCTV by individuals, making it the issue with the lowest recorded level of concern in 2018.

People also felt vulnerable sharing their personal details on social media.

Thirty percent were comfortable doing so, compared to 65% who were uncomfortable.

Only 18% were confident that their information would be looked after, while 75% had little or no confidence at all.

The number of people concerned about their individual privacy has risen slightly to 67%, up 2% from the last survey held in 2016.

Those with a household income of $50,000 or less were more likely to be concerned about individual privacy (77%) compared with those with a higher household income (63%). — RNZ