A number of hypothetical situations were tested in terms of whether they are considered to be an invasion of privacy.
The scenarios tested are:
The vast majority of respondents regarded each of the first four scenarios to be an invasion of privacy, however being asked to show identification as evidence of identity is not considered an invasion of privacy.
Would you say this was an invasion of the privacy of your personal information**?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
There was little variation by age, sex, level of knowledge or education to any of these scenarios.
Respondents were asked if the incidence of being asked to show identification to establish identity is more, less or about the same as two years ago, with thirty eight percent reporting an increase. The majority (56%) claimed it was about the same, 4% claimed a decrease and 2% couldn't say.
Younger respondents (18-24 years old) were more likely than other age groups to report an increase in incidence in requests for identification over the past two years. Keep in mind that two years ago, this age group was 16-22 years of age. As young people become independent and assume more responsibility, they may have to interact with a greater number and variety of organisations (such as telephone and electricity companies, superannuation funds managers, the Roads and Traffic Authority etc.). This increase in the number of interactions may account for the increase in requests for identification this age group has reported over the last two years.
As was the case in 2001, there is a degree of reluctance by most of the community to provide some types of personal information. Only 11% stated they were not concerned about supplying any type of information. The types of personal information respondents identified they were reluctant to provide did not differ substantially between the two studies. Finance and income continue to be the details respondents are reluctant to divulge, however home contact details remain relatively high.
When providing your personal information to any organisation, IN GENERAL, what types of information do you feel RELUCTANT to provide? For example, your name, address, phone number, financial details, income, marital status, date of birth, email address, medical information, genetic information, or something else?
| Type of Information | 2001 (%) | 2004 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Financial details, such as bank accounts | 59 | 58 |
| Details about your income | 42 | 34 |
| Home phone number | 17 | 22 |
| Medical history / health information | 25 | 21 |
| Home address | 14 | 20 |
| Email address | 11 | 19 |
| Genetic information | 13 | 11 |
| Marital status | 9 | 9 |
| Date of birth | 7 | 8 |
| Name | 6 | 7 |
| Religion | 2 | 3 |
| How many people or males in household / Family member details | 1 | 2 |
| None | 16 | 11 |
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
Respondents were asked which type of information they would be most reluctant to provide. Financial and income details remain as being those respondents are most reluctant to divulge.
And of [those mentioned] which ONE of these do you feel MOST RELUCTANT to provide?
| Type of Information | 2001 (%) | 2004 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Financial details, such as bank accounts | 40 | 41 |
| Details about your income | 11 | 10 |
| Home phone number | 3 | 5 |
| Medical history / Health information | 7 | 5 |
| Home address | 4 | 7 |
| Genetic information | 3 | 2 |
Base - 2001 n=1,306, 2004 n=1,294
The information types can be grouped into Finance and Income (financial details and details about your income) and Contact Details (home phone number, home address, name and email address). We can compare the reasons why respondents felt reluctant to provide information across these subgroups.
Reasons for being reluctant to provide personal information varied. However for the majority the main reason given was a general comment about invasion of privacy rather than fears about a specific type of misuse or personal threat. However, since the 2001 study, there has been an increase in concern about protection from crime, and being sent unsolicited advertising material. Respondents most concerned about divulging financial and income details thought it was an invasion of privacy generally, or they had concerns it may be used to commit a crime against them. Those concerned about handing over contact details were primarily concerned with the risk of receiving unsolicited mail, thought it was irrelevant to the organisation or generally were not happy with people knowing where they lived.
Respondents 18-24 years of age were less concerned about providing financial details (30%) than respondents 35-49 (42%) or 50+ (45%), however the 18-24 year old age group were more concerned about providing contact details such as a home address (18%) or email address (7%) than respondent 35-49 (6% and 5% respectively) or 50+ (4% and 3% respectively).
And what is your MAIN reason for not wanting to provide this type of information?
| Reason Reluctant to Provide Personal Information | 2001 (%) | 2004 (%) | Finance and Income (%) | Contact Details (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| It's None of Their Business / Invasion of Privacy | 51 | 44 | 54 | 16 |
| The Information May Be Misused | 12 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| May Lead to Financial Loss / People Might Access Bank Account | 7 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| For Safety / Security / Protection (From Crime) | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Unnecessary / Irrelevant to Their Business or Cause | 2 | 5 | 1 | 19 |
| I Don't Want to Be Bothered/ Hassled / Hounded (by Phone / Door to Door) | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Don't Want Junk Mail / Unsolicited Mail / Spam | 1 | 5 | 1 | 20 |
| I Do Not Want People Knowing Where I Live/ How to Contact Me | 6 | 5 | 1 | 18 |
| Information Might Be Passed on Without my Knowledge | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Discrimination | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| I Do Not Want to Be Identified | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Other | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Can't Say | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Base - 2001 n=1,306, 2004 n=1,294, Finance and Income n=756, Contact Details n=278
People appear to be engaging in more behaviours to protect their privacy since the 2001 study. Leaving personal information off forms as a means of protecting their personal information was reported by more respondents in 2004 than in 2001.
When completing forms or applications that ask for personal details, such as your name, contact details, income, marital status etc, how often, if ever, would you say YOU LEAVE SOME QUESTIONS BLANK as a means of protecting your personal information?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
A score can be assigned to each response to calculate a mean score. Analysis of this mean score shows that female respondents, respondents aged 25-49, and respondents with a household income over $100,000 are more likely to leave information off forms than the rest of the adult population.
| Response | Score |
|---|---|
| Always | 5 |
| Often | 4 |
| Sometimes | 3 |
| Rarely | 2 |
| Never | 1 |
| Can't Say | Not Included |
When completing forms or applications that ask for personal details, such as your name, contact details, income, marital status etc, how often, if ever, would you say YOU LEAVE SOME QUESTIONS BLANK as a means of protecting your personal information?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
All respondents were asked if they have ever decided not to deal with a private company or charity, or a government organisation or agency because of concerns over the protection or use of their personal information. Fewer respondents reported deciding not to deal with a private company or charity in 2004 than in 2001.
Firstly, have you ever decided NOT TO DEAL with a .... because of concerns over the protection or use of your personal information?
- PRIVATE COMPANY or CHARIT
- GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION or AGENCY
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
This showed some variation with age, with 25-49 year old respondents being more likely to have decided not to deal with an organisation.
Respondents with a degree were more likely to have decided not to deal with a private company or charity (40%) than respondents who left school after year ten or the equivalent (32%). This was not the case for deciding not to deal with government department or agency, where those with a degree were marginally less likely (15%) to have made this decision than respondents with who left school after year ten (18%).
Respondents from Western Australia (41%) and New South Wales (35%) were the most likely to have decided not to deal with a private company or charity, whereas respondents from Queensland (28%) and South Australia (28%) were the least likely. Western Australian (18%) and Victorian (18%) respondents were the most likely to have decided not to deal with a government department, with respondents from Queensland (13%) and Tasmania (14%) being the least likely.
Firstly, have you ever decided NOT TO DEAL with a .... because of concerns over the protection or use of your personal information?
- PRIVATE COMPANY or CHARITY
- GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION or AGENCY
Some organisations use personal information to send highly targeted, personalised marketing material. Respondents' reactions to such marketing material were examined.
Although concerns about unsolicited marketing material have dropped slightly since the 2001 study, 6 in 10 respondents (61%) felt either angry and annoyed, or concerned when they receive such information***.
Which of the following statements BEST DESCRIBE how you GENERALLY feel when organisations that you have NEVER DEALT WITH BEFORE send you unsolicited marketing information?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
Respondents were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that businesses should be able to access the electoral roll and the White Pages for the purposes of marketing.
The question regarding the White Pages was one of the three questions verified on the verification survey, shown in Appendix Two. While the majority of respondents were against using the electoral roll for marketing, they were divided as to whether or not marketing should be allowed using data from the White Pages. However, the proportion against using the White Pages for marketing was slightly higher in the verification study, please refer to Appendix Two for more details.
Do you agree or disagree that businesses should be able to use the ... for marketing purposes?
- electoral roll
- White Pages
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
There were some differences amongst sub-groups examined:
Often, organisations access the personal information of their customers in order to improve the customer service they can provide. For example, an individual who travels frequently may prefer to use a certain brand of hotel. If they arrive in a city they have never visited before, and stay in a hotel owned by this chain, there are several elements of customer service that would impress many patrons, such as:
However, in order to provide this personalised level of service, the hotel would need to keep a customer database containing all this information, which is accessible worldwide. This section of the report examines the importance of various aspects of customer service to individuals, and their likelihood of trading elements of their right to privacy in order to receive such services.
Respondents were asked to rate the following five service aspects according to importance:
While the quality of product or service was rated as most important to respondents, respect for and protection of personal information was rated almost as highly by respondents. However, this statistic may be inflated by the context in which it was measured. Respondents were aware that the research was being carried out on behalf of the Office, and had been asked several questions relating to personal information before this question was asked.
When dealing with businesses that require your personal information, which of the following aspects of customer service are most important to you? Please rank them starting with the MOST important and finishing with the LEAST important
| Customer Service Element | Rated 1st 2001 (%) | Rated 1st 2004 (%) | Rated 1st or 2nd 2004 (%) | Rated 1st, 2nd or 3rd 2004 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality of Product or Service | 34 | 35 | 64 | 80 |
| Respect for and Protection of Personal Information | 36 | 32 | 47 | 61 |
| Price | 8 | 13 | 33 | 57 |
| Efficiency of Service | 11 | 12 | 32 | 54 |
| Convenience | 6 | 5 | 13 | 28 |
| Can't Say | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
Respect for, and protection of personal information was more likely to be rated most important by women (37%) than men (27%), and by those with lower household incomes (<$50,000 33%, $50,000-99,999 28%, $100,000+ 26%).
When dealing with businesses that require your personal information, which of the following aspects of customer service are most important to you?
Proportion rated importance of respect and protection of personal information as most important.
The relatively low importance of price in comparison to the importance of having their personal information adequately protected (as shown in the previous question) is further reinforced with only one quarter of respondents (28%) saying they would be likely to provide personal information in return for discounted goods or services. Over half (55%) were unwilling to trade personal information for discounts, 5% were neither likely nor unlikely and 11% said it depended on the organisation involved.
Younger people were far more likely than those from older age groups to provide their personal information in return for discounts; however no distinct pattern emerged across different household income ranges.
GENERALLY, how likely or unlikely would you be to provide your personal information to an organisation if it meant you would receive discounted purchases?
Proportion likely to provide personal information for discount.
While only 27% were willing to provide personal information in return for discounts, 44% were willing to provide personal details in return for more efficient and personalised service. Nearly the same proportion (41%) stated they were not willing to trade personal information in exchange for personalised service, 4% were neither likely nor unlikely and 9% said it depended on the organisation.
This varied by age, with younger respondents being far more likely to exchange personal information for improved service than older respondents.
GENERALLY, how likely or unlikely would you be to provide your personal information to an organisation if it meant you would receive more efficient and personalised service?
Proportion likely to provide personal information for more efficient and personalised service.
There has been some variation in these metrics between the 2001 and the 2004 studies. In 2004, although respondents appear less willing to trade their privacy for discounts (55% unlikely in 2004 cf. 48% unlikely in 2001), there is no change in the proportion likely or unlikely to provide more personal information for better levels of service.
GENERALLY, how likely or unlikely would you be to provide your personal information to an organisation if it meant you would receive...
- discounted purchases?
- more efficient and personalised service?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
Research suggests that people are not necessarily reading privacy notices due to their length and complexity of information2. One option for encouraging people to read privacy notices is to make them shorter.
Respondents were asked what aspects of a privacy policy are most important to be included in a summary. The response most nominated was "how the information will be used".
Many organisations have a publicly available privacy policy. If there was a requirement that all privacy policies have a one page summary, in terms of the personal information the company has, which ONE of the following do you think is MOST IMPORTANT to be in this summary?
And which would be SECOND most important?
And which would be THIRD most important?
| Privacy Policy Element | Most Important (%) | Two Most Important (%) | Three Most Important (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the information will be used | 47 | 71 | 84 |
| If and when the organisation will pass on my information | 15 | 37 | 60 |
| What information will be kept | 15 | 37 | 57 |
| How to prevent being contacted for marketing purposes | 12 | 24 | 42 |
| How to access or change my information | 6 | 20 | 38 |
| Can't say | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
* This scenario was measured in a slightly different manner to the other scenarios. This scenario was not measured in 2001.
** Being asked to show identification was measured through the two questions "Over the last two years, would you say the number of times you have been asked to show identification such as a drivers license or passport to establish your identity has increased, decreased or stayed about the same?" and "Do you consider such demands to be an invasion of privacy?". This was not measured in 2001.
*** Respondents were permitted to give multiple answers to this question, 8% felt both angry and annoyed and concerned about where their personal information was obtained.
2 Mary J Culnan and George R Milne, The Culnan Milne Survey on Consumers & Online Privacy Notices: Summary of responses December 2001, University of Massachusetts; See also http://www.cdt.org/privacy/ccp/notice1.shtml; Joseph Turow, Americans & Online Privacy: The System is Broken: A Report from the Annenberg Public Policy Center for the University of Pennsylvania June 2003. More information is available at http://www.privacyconference2003.org/resolution.asp
^top : Last Updated : 27 October 2004