Privacy and the internet: Australian attitudes towards privacy in the online environment

30 April 2012 | Most people will say that privacy matters to them, but like so many social issues, it is a state which is hard to define, as it is an intensely personal interpretation.

The continued rise of the Internet and related mobile technologies will test our understanding of privacy, as we increasingly engage commercially and socially in the online environment.

• 85% of online Australians believe data breach notification should be mandatory for business
• Australians nominated identity theft (86%) and loss of financial data (83%) as their areas of greatest privacy concern.
• The financial sector is most trusted on privacy (42%), followed by government and the eCommerce sectors 
• Social media is the least trusted industry on privacy (1%). In fact, 61% of respondents nominated the social media industry as having the worst privacy practices  
• Overall, women feel more secure than men online, and younger people (18-29 years old) feel more secure than older people (50+ years old)