GRBN Trust and Personal Data Survey report - Part 1 - Concern, familiarity, trust and sensitivity - 2014 12 03

Trust & Personal Data Report – Part 1 December 2014

https://ondeviceresearch.com/

http://www.greenbook.org/

http://www.criticalmix.com/

http://dapresy.com/

http://www.researchnow.com/en-US.aspx

About the report This report investigates the issue of personal data usage from the aspects of familiarity, concern, trust and sensitivity.

Part 1 of the report looks at the global results, as well as the regional and country differences

Part 2 of the report deep dives into the results by region and country

Both parts contain the key findings and conclusions from the survey.

On the issue of trust we investigated 17 types of organisations, and on the issue of sensitivity we covered 29 different types of data. Data was collected in 24 countries worldwide with a total of over 23000 people participating in the survey, giving a total of over 1.1 million data points.

The report is not intended to be read cover-to-cover, but rather the reader is encouraged to use the navigation tools to skip to sections of interest. To facilitate this, links have been embedded into the images on the table of contents pages, and from the bottom right hand corner of each page the reader can return back to the table of contents.

This report would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, as well as the support of the regional federations and national associations belonging to the GRBN. By clicking on their ads or logos you can navigate to their websites for further information.

I would also like to thank the national association representatives who provided commentary, thus giving insight into the results from their country’s perspective, as well as Lenny Murphy from Greenbook and Melanie Courtright from Research Now for the conclusions they have drawn from the data.

Andrew Cannon

GRBN Executive Director

4th December 2014

https://ondeviceresearch.com/


http://www.criticalmix.com/

http://dapresy.com/

http://www.researchnow.com/en-US.aspx

Trust and Personal Data Report - Contents

Introduction

How familiar and concerned are people with the issue?

Who do people trust with their Personal Data?

What types of data are most sensitive?

Introduction

c

Methodology

General key findings

General conclusions

Market Research Industry key findings

Market Research Industry conclusions

Foreword

About the GRBN

Methodology (1/3) Research Now co-operated with the GRBN on this initiative, conducting the fieldwork, as well as providing programming and data processing resources. Research Now was supported by OnDevice in two countries (Mongolia and Thailand).

Fieldwork was conducted in 24 countries worldwide, with approximately 1000 on-line interviews per country (500 in Mongolia) for a total sample of just over 23700 respondents.

http://www.researchnow.com/en-US.aspx?utm_source=GRBN_Report&utm_medium

Methodology (2/3)

The sample per country was defined as either 18+ year olds or 18-64 year olds*, and where internet penetration is relatively low, the sample was additionally defined as an internet user sample rather than total population sample.# See next page.

In all countries, except Mongolia and Thailand, sample was drawn from on-line access panels, whilst in Mongolia and Thailand mobile river sample was used. The different methodology in those two countries may impact the results, especially with respect to attitudes towards the market research industry.

As with all cross-cultural studies, care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries, and regions, due to possible scale-usage bias. Please click here to read a Research Now white paper on this subject. In addition to scale-usage, historical and cultural factors may also influence how people relate to the questions we have asked, in particular the ones concerning trust and sensitivity.

A further description of the methodology can be accessed here.

http://www.researchnow.com/en-US/PressAndEvents/News/2014/march/white-paper-multimode-global-scale-usage.aspx

Methodology (3/3)

January

2014

February

2014

March

2014

April

2014

June

2014

September

2014

Pilot Wave

May

2014

July

2014

August

2014

ARIA Survey • Argentina • Brazil

• Canada • Mexico

APRC Survey

• Australia • China *# • Japan • Malaysia# • Mongolia #

• New Zealand • Singapore* • South Korea* • Taiwan # • Thailand *#

EFAMRO Survey

• Finland • France • Germany • Ireland

• Italy • Netherlands • Spain • Sweden

• UK • US

Foreword

As our world becomes more and more digitalised, more and more data, including personal data, is being collected on people; as citizens, customers and consumers. Whilst much of this data is being used to create and deliver added value to those about/from whom the data is collected, this is not always the case, and in certain cases the, so-called, data subject might actually be harmed by the activity.

As the volume of data increases and the uses multiple, so does the risk of inadvertent misuse. And in addition to the legitimate collection and use of data on people, the amount of fraudulent activity is also expected to also increase significantly. According to a report by PWC: “The total number of security incidents…climbed to 42.8 million this year, an increase of 48% from 2013.*

As both inadvertent and deliberate misuse becomes more commonplace, it is expected that media coverage of this issue will expand, and as a result awareness of personal data issues amongst the general public will increase. This, in turn, may well increase the level of concern people feel about the risks.

As people become more aware of the issue, we believe they will also attach more value to their data. According to a study in France by Orange on the Future of Digital Trust, consumers estimate the value their personal data to business at 170€**. As people become more concerned about misuse of their personal data, we believe they will also become more and more careful with whom they share what, where, when, how and why. According to the same study by Orange, the perceived value of personal data jumps to nearly 240€ in relation to unfamiliar organisations. We expect both the perceived value and the gap to increase.

We believe that in our ever more digitalised word, the issue of trust will become more and more important. People will become more and more demanding of data controllers and processors in terms of transparency. In business, those companies who are able earn and keep the trust of customers will be able to gain sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace.

We believe that the issue of trust will also become more critical for the market research industry, as the industry will continue to rely heavily on people’s voluntary participation in the face of increased wariness.

The GRBN set out to provide a global measurement of where we are today on this issue; how familiar people are with the issue, and how concerned? To what extent different types of organisations trusted to protect and appropriately use personal data, and we believe we have achieved that aim.

Moving forward, we intend to measure how attitudes around the globe are changing over time.

Whilst the main focus of this report is to look at this issue from the market research industry perspective, it contains much information of importance and relevance to other industries, as well as the public sector. We hope you enjoy the report and please feel free to share access to the reporting portal with your colleagues.

Peter Harris Alex Garnica Andrew Cannon

APRC ARIA EFAMRO

The amount of data collected on

individuals will continue to grow

The number of cases in the media

about the abuse of personal data

will continue to increase 1

0 1 0

0

0

1 1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0

“Home Depot breach affected 56M debit, credit

cards”

Yahoo news, Sept 19 2014

“7 Controversial Ways Facebook Has Used Your

Data”

Time, Feb 4 2014

“JPMorgan, Four Other Banks Hit by Hackers:

U.S. Official”

Bloomberg, Aug 28 2014

People’s concerns over the (mis)use

of personal data will grow stronger

*

http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/consulting-services/information-security-survey/key-finding

s.jhtml **

http://www.orange.com/en/press/press-releases/press-releases-2014/Consumers-value-

their-personal-data-at-170-140-Orange-study-finds

General key findings (1/3)

Over one-third of adults are VERY CONCERNED about the possible misuse of their personal data

On average, one-in-three does NOT TRUST organisations to safeguard their personal data

People consider many types of data to be SENSITIVE, not just personal

Globally, six-in-ten adults claim to be at least somewhat familiar with how their personal data is collected and used, but despite this relative familiarity, the majority of people are concerned about possible misuse of their personal data, and a significant minority are very concerned. Concern is particularly high amongst females aged 35-54 years old.

On average, for every one person who highly trusts organisations to protect and appropriately use their personal data, there are three who have very low level of trust.

Overall trust is lowest in the Americas (except Canada), whilst in Europe trust is lowest in France and the UK. People tend to be more trusting of organisations on this issue in APAC, with the major exception of South Korea and Australia. Scale usage and other cultural differences need to be considered when comparing results across countries.

Of the 29 types of data surveyed, eight are considered to be sensitive by 50% or more of citizens across the globe. Unsurprisingly the majority of people consider things such as financial account / personal identification numbers to be sensitive data, with health and criminal records, as well as biometric identifiers also considered to be sensitive data by many.

Perhaps more surprisingly, almost half of citizens around the globe consider physical location information (home address and location via mobile phone signals), as well as virtual location information (IP address) to be sensitive.

On a regional level, Europeans are more likely to consider data to be sensitive; in particular critical types of data (such as personal identification numbers) and labelling data (such as religion, sexual orientation or one’s weight for example) are considered more sensitive in Europe than in APAC or the Americas.

Claiming to be familiar with how personal data is used, does not make one less concerned. Being concerned, however, means one is more likely to see personal data as sensitive, especially digital footprint data, as well as data which physically identifies a person (e.g. name, photo, home address).

Globally citizens are equally divided as to whether to trust the authorities to protect and appropriately use their personal data or not.

Regionally, there are huge differences, with citizens in APAC more likely to trust the authorities and those in Latin America much less likely to do so. In the APAC region, it is citizens in China, Singapore and Mongolia, who claim to have the most trust in the authorities on this issue.

In Europe, the government has a positive net trust index in Finland and Germany, as well as in Sweden, whereas in Ireland, France, Italy and the UK citizens are more likely to distrust than trust their government on this issue.

The police are the most trusted type of organization out of the 17 surveyed when it comes to protecting and appropriately using personal data. Trust in especially high in Finland, whilst in Europe it is lowest in the UK, France and Ireland. In the Americas trust in the police is lowest in Mexico, whilst in APAC it is lowest in Thailand and South Korea.

Whilst Germans trust their government, they do not trust their national secret services, and are joined in this distrust for the later by citizens in Italy and Ireland. Across the globe, foreign secret service organisations are highly distrusted.

Different types of media organisations are not very highly trusted to protect and appropriately use personal data. Trust is lowest in France (very low trust in social media & search engine companies), Australia and the UK (low trust local and foreign media). * NTI = % giving a high rating (6 or 7) - % giving a

low rating (1 or 2) on a 7-point scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Media NTI *

-35%

-27%

-40%

-38%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Authorities NTI *

2%

11%

3%

-16%



Trust in different types of “businesses” to protect and appropriately use personal data is clear higher than trust in “media” organisations. Overall, trust is highest in the APAC region, with the exception of South Korea. In particular banks (both local and foreign) as well as mobile phone operators are trusted more in the APAC region than elsewhere.

In Europe, trust in business varies somewhat by country, being highest in Finland and lowest in France, the UK and Ireland, whilst in the Americas it is highest in Canada.

Low trust in “business” organisations in Europe is driven by a lower trust in foreign on-line stores and foreign banks, whilst in the Americas it is relative low trust in mobile and internet operators, as well as retailers, which explains why “business” organisations are trusted less in the Americas than elsewhere.

On average, credit card companies are relatively well trusted with personal data, in particular in Finland, whilst the French and South Koreans show them relatively low trust on this issue.

Local banks are reasonably well trusted to protect and appropriately use personal data, and have a positive net trust index in all regions, being most trusted in Canada. People in Ireland, France and Italy, in contrast, have a relatively low level of trust in their banks.

Trust in foreign banks tends to be low across the globe, especially in Europe and North America.

People are, on average, three times more likely to trust local organisations compared to foreign ones.

This relative distrust in foreign organisations is particularly noticeable in Europe, especially in Finland, Germany and Sweden, whilst in APAC the same can be seen in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, and in the Americas in the USA and Canada.

In APAC, South Koreans and Thais stand out as showing an almost similar trust in foreign and local organisations, and the same phenomenon can also be seen in Latin America.

* NTI = % giving a high rating (6 or 7) - % giving a low

rating (1 or 2) on a 7-point scale

Average Foreign vs. Local NTI difference*

(net trust index)

Business NTI *

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-19%

-15%

-20%

-24%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-25%

-21%

-30%

-23%

General conclusions (1/2) 1) AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUE NEEDS TO IMPROVE

Whilst the level of claimed familiarity with how personal data is collected and used is reasonably high, we believe there is still room for improvement, and that in particular governments, as well as the public sector in general, have a clear role to play in this.

As people increasingly need to share their personal data in order to access both information and services, people have the right not only to be informed about this, but also to be educated, in order to understand the risks and make informed decisions about what to share, when, how and with whom. It is not sufficient that the information is buried deep within terms and conditions.

2) PEOPLE’S CONCERNS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED

We believe that the current level of concern around this issue is harmful, not only to individuals, but also to society as a whole. And, whilst in the short-term at least, individual companies might be making profits from the situation, we do not believe it is beneficial to business, or the economy as a whole, especially in the medium to long term.

We believe the current high level of concern is not sustainable and that something has to give. If nothing is done to address the situation, both by the authorities as well as the private sector, then we believe people will react to the situation. We expect the majority will react by resigning themselves to the situation, by accepting this mistrust as a “way of life”, as ”a sign of our times”, and finding ways to cope. We expect, however, that a minority find the issue important enough to act on by either finding ways to ”go dark” and/or actively protest against the system.

In this scenario, we believe there will be more and more cases of misuse, partly unintentional, but also criminal, as some organisations try to take advantage of people’s apathy and use of mental short-cuts. Also, legitimate ”cloaks” and protests will be used by others for criminal purposes.

As a result, we believe that law makers will have no choice but to ”tighten the screw” to protect their citizens. This tightening of protection will no doubt have negative impact on legitimate businesses, as well as on public services, and therefore also negatively impact people as both citizens and consumers, but that is the price that will need to be paid if preventive action is not taken.

We believe, however, that collectively, we have an opportunity, and perhaps even an obligation to prevent this scenario from becoming reality.


General conclusions (2/2) 3) THE LELVEL OF TRUST MUST BE IMPROVED

To take advantage of the opportunity, we collectively need to agree that the level of trust on this issue is just not good enough…

“For every one person with high trust there are three with low trust”

In particular the onus is on governments and the public sector to act, because if people do not trust the people they have voted into power nor the institutions they oversee, there is little hope that people will trust organisations, whose purpose is to make money.

4) TRANSPARENCY BOTH BY GOVERNMENTS AND CORPORATIONS IS A MUST

But how? We believe that transparency is key, for without this transparency there cannot be trust. There have been too many examples where the authorities and corporations have abused trust, and therefore the onus is on them, collectively, to regain that trust. It cannot be taken for granted.

Organisations need to “get their house” in order on this issue. They need to put systems and procedures in place to ensure that they are responsible with the collection, handling, protection and use of personal data. They need to ensure that the risks of inadvertent abuse, as well as security breaches, are minimized.

5) BUILDING TRUST IS BUILDING COMPETITITVE ADVANTAGE

With respect to the commercial world, we believe that there is a clear business case to be made for acting transparently, especially with customers. We believe that customers will be willing to share more and more data, with organisations who act transparently and whom they trust, especially if they can see and feel clear benefits from the sharing of that information, for example in terms of improved services or added value. I believe that this rich customer data will give those companies that have a strong trust relationship with their customers a clear and sustainable competitive advantage in the market place.

We also need to act collectively, and industry bodies also need to act across industries to build public trust. We need to ensure quality standards, codes and guidelines are in place and followed. We need to ensure self-regulation systems are in place and operate effectively, as well as transparently.


APRC ARIA EFAMRO

http://dapresy.com/

For every one person, who has a high degree of trust in the market research industry not to misuse their personal data, there are three, who distrust the industry.

This result means that trust in the market research industry is on an average level compared to the 16 other types of organisations included in the research, and for example is clearly lower than the level of trust in banks or credit card companies, but clearly higher than the level of trusted in media or social media companies.

Germany stands out as the only country of the 24 researched where the net trust index (top 2 box minus bottom 2 box on a 7-point scale) is positive. Relative to trust in other types of organisations, the market research industry is also well trusted in Italy to protect and appropriately use personal data.

Three out of five of the countries with the lowest level of trust in the market research industry in absolute terms can be found in the APAC region; South Korea, Singapore and Australia, with these three joined by the USA and the UK.

Trust in the market research industry relative to businesses such as banks, on-line stores, retailers and mobile phone / internet operators, is relatively low in the Nordics in Europe, as well as in Canada.

Relative to media organisations, the trust in market research industry is most positive in Europe, especially in Germany, but is lowest in the UK, where for example, internet search companies are just as much trusted as the market research industry on this issue.

In the APAC region the market research industry is only slightly more trusted than “media” organisations, and in South Kora and Mongolia they have an equal level of trust, whilst in Thailand media organisations are currently actually more trusted than market research organisations to protect & appropriately use personal data.

Over one-third of adults are VERY CONCERNED about the possible misuse of their personal data

On average, one-in-three does NOT TRUST the market research industry to safeguard their personal data

People consider many types of data to be SENSITIVE, not just personal

Market Research Industry key findings


High concern and lack of trust: A threat or an opportunity for the market research industry?

We believe that the results from the research indicate that the market research industry has an opportunity, but not necessarily one that will last forever.

Although the level of trust in the market research industry on protecting and appropriately using personal data is not great, globally it is better than some other types of organisations, including social media, media and search engine companies for example.

Amongst younger adults, however, the trust advantage our industry has is much smaller, and in some countries amongst this age group it is already non-existent.

As an industry we rely heavily on people’s voluntary participation to share their data. Therefore, as an industry, we believe we have to collectively act to build public trust: We need to act transparently towards the general public, as well as to clients, to earn that trust. We need to demonstrate to the public, and to clients, how responsible we are with all the data we collect, not just personal data, but we also have to demonstrate more clearly the value of market research to society, as well as to clients. Reliability and relevance are not opposites, and as an industry we can deliver both.

The appropriate use of personal data is one where our industry is strong and we need to communicate effectively about this. We need to maintain the distinction between market research and other activities.

The GRBN believes the time to act is now and in 2015 will be seeking support for an industry-wide three year global programme to build public trust in the market research industry.


APRC ARIA EFAMRO

TRANSPARENCY is a requirement 1

2

3

Informed Consent is a MUST

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Collectively, the market

research industry has a

window of opportunity to

build trust

Market Research Industry Conclusions

Commentary by Lenny Murphy, Greenbook

In 2011 The World Economic Forum and Bain & Company released a report “Personal Data: The Emergence of a New Asset Class”. This wide ranging and comprehensive study, with contributions from leaders in every global industry, captured the essence of the personal data economy in their introduction: “We are moving towards a “Web of the world” in which mobile communications, social technologies and sensors are connecting people, the Internet and the physical world into one interconnected network. Data records are collected on who we are, who we know, where we are, where we have been and where we plan to go. Mining and analysing this data give us the ability to understand and even predict where humans focus their attention and activity at the individual, group and global level….. Increasing the control that individuals have over the manner in which their personal data is collected, managed and shared will spur a host of new services and applications. As some put it, personal data will be the new “oil” – a valuable resource of the 21st century. It will emerge as a new asset class touching all aspects of society.” Indeed, this report gave birth to a new program called the Rethinking Personal Data Initiative which has already defined the value of personal data as an asset class and reinforced the value of trusted data flow. The current stage of the program brings together data experts with practitioners in different commercial environments so that together they can drive results that are practical, implementable, and can be widely communicated. They are looking at how to create and implement the right rules, tools, frameworks and business models to bring about the emergence of a personal data ecosystem where people have greater control over the collection, use, sharing and monetization of their personal data. Cont…


https://mail.mrs.org.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=OGzRvsBbAEKxU0ikafdnp_zwtjbd4NEIDtsXkfVxnbJkhjvAKBYpupDenBWd8TTkGoh70BKrAHs.&URL=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ITTC_PersonalDataNewAsset_Report_2011.pdf

https://mail.mrs.org.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=OGzRvsBbAEKxU0ikafdnp_zwtjbd4NEIDtsXkfVxnbJkhjvAKBYpupDenBWd8TTkGoh70BKrAHs.&URL=http://www.weforum.org/issues/rethinking-personal-data

https://mail.mrs.org.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=OGzRvsBbAEKxU0ikafdnp_zwtjbd4NEIDtsXkfVxnbJkhjvAKBYpupDenBWd8TTkGoh70BKrAHs.&URL=http://www.weforum.org/issues/rethinking-personal-data


Commentary by Lenny Murphy, Greenbook (continued)

Conspicuously absent from the steering group are any representatives from the consumer insights or even marketing organizations. No Nielsen, Kantar,

WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Dentsu, etc… or any other connected organization. And that is a missed opportunity for our industry, for as we can see from the GRBN Trust & Personal Data Report, in some markets the insights industry has an edge in the trust of consumers vs. virtually any other industry, and globally is at least average. We have a stake in the global dialogue around personal data, and perhaps even a larger one that many other industries since consumer data is the driving force of market research. Whether it’s surveys or focus groups or Big Data analytics and applied neuroscience, our industry has historically worked hard to utilize even the most personal and intimate information in a respectful and beneficial way, and as new technologies blur the lines between market research and marketing via single source channels, digital advertising, social media analysis and mobile tracking we have a unique opportunity to apply our historical role as the advocate for consumer empowerment via data sharing with the broader world. It’s a differentiation that we should continue to work hard to develop and a perspective that our trade bodies need to share with both consumers and organizations like the WEF. This report is an important piece of evidence to help us shape that broader discussion, and hats off to GRBN for leading the charge to understand where we stand in the new data-driven world we live (and work) in.


http://dapresy.com/

Conclusions for the Market Research Industry About the GRBN

The GRBN’s mission is to promote and advance the business of research by developing and supporting strong autonomous national research associations.

38 national research associations representing over 3,500 research businesses on 5 continents, which generate US $25 billion in annual research revenues

http://grbn.org/index.php

How familiar and concerned are people with the issue?

"big-data_conew1" by luckey_sun is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/75279887@N05/6914441342/






Concern over misuse of Personal Data

Summary of findings

Just over one-in-three adults (36%) are very concerned about how their personal data is collected and used, with as many as eight-in-ten at least somewhat concerned.

People in the Americas claim to be most concerned on average, whilst on an individual country level, concern is highest in Malaysia and Singapore.*

In Europe the level of claimed concern is relatively lower, and is highest in the UK and Spain.

By age and sex, concern is highest amongst females aged 35-54 years old, although this is not the case in Europe, where concern is more evenly spread across both age and sex.

Of the 24 countries surveyed, the Dutch are the least concerned about this issue, with people in the Nordics and Germany also much less concerned than average. In APAC concern is lowest in Japan, New Zealand and Mongolia, whilst in the Americas, it is the Canadians who show the least concern.

* Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results

across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to

read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Expert commentary by Melanie Courtright, Research Now

“Today we are asking more of our research participants than ever Before. With technology advancements, we are requesting that participants allow us to meter their online activities, follow them around virtually, give us access to their social media pages, put our applications on their mobile devices, place cookies on al of their devices, and even share purchase data and receipts. When a trust relationship is established, and participants are comfortable with the purpose of the research, we all benefit from how close they are allowing us to get to them. However, that relationship is hard to create and easy to break.

Participants have shared with us, though this research, that they have concerns. They don’t fully understand why we need some of the information we seek. They worry about our data protection protocols. They are concerned about breaches. They are legitimately fearful about the downstream affects of even an accidental privacy violation. People watch what is happening across industry and the world, so a data privacy transgression in any sector affects their comfort level with research activities. These concerns are only alleviated through breeding familiarity, which is something we are not successfully achieving. Participants need to understand more, be better informed, know what to do if they have questions, and have a path to share concerns.

Churchill, Roosevelt, Stan Lee, Voltaire, and William Lamb have all been credited with saying, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We are being granted the power of data, and all of the responsibility that comes with that power. If we are careful, we can make important advances. If we are careless, we could reap repercussions that affect us and our followers for decades. ”


81%

84%

74%

87%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

36%

39%

25%

48%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Very concerned Fairly concerned

Q: How concerned are you that your personal data might be

misused?

Across the globe there is GREAT CONCERN

with how personal data is collected and used

% “very concerned” /

% “very+fairly concerned”

61%

57%

56%

54%

50%

47%

45%

40%

MY

SG

MX

BR

AR

ES

US

UK

The most concerned countries*

% “very concerned”

Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting

the results across countries and regions due to possible

scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now

white paper on this issue.


Q: How concerned are you that your personal data might be misused? (4 point scale)

39% 36% 38%

26%

37%

27%

61%

28%

57%

38% 37%

AVG AU CN JP KR MN MY NZ SG TH TW

In APAC, concern is most noticeable

in Malaysia and Singapore APAC

% “very concerned” with how personal data is collected and used


25%

15%

47%

15%

24%

34% 35%

6%

13%

40%

AVG DE ES FI FR IE IT NL SE UK


EUROPE

In Europe, concern is highest in Spain and the UK

48% 50% 54%

35%

56%

45%

AVG AR BR CA MX US



AMERICAS

Concern is high throughout the Americas,

but relatively low in Canada

Concern by age & sex

36%

36%

32%

37%

40%

32%

Male 18-34

Male 35-54

Male 55+

Female 18-34

Female 35-54

Female 55+

% “very concerned”

Regional differences

It is in the Americas and APAC regions where females aged 35-54 are most concerned.


xxx Concern is highest amongst middle aged females

Familiarity with how Personal Data is collected and used

Summary of findings

Relatively few people, less than one-in-ten, claim to be very unfamiliar with this issue, and six-out-of-ten claim to be at least somewhat familiar with how their personal data is collected and used.

People in the Americas claim to be most familiar, whilst those in the APAC region the least.

On an individual country level unfamiliarity is highest in Japan and Mongolia, and in the APAC region.*

In Europe the level of claimed unfamiliarity is highest in Finland, Germany, France and Ireland.

Globally, claimed familiarity is lower amongst females, and highest amongst males aged 18 to 54.

40%

46%

40%

28%

8%

11%

6%

7%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Not at all familiar

Not very familiar

Q: How familiar do you feel with how your personal data is currently collected and used?

% “Not at all familiar” /

% “not at all + not very familiar”

The degree of UNFAMILIARITY with how personal data is collected

and used is considerable across the globe

63%

58%

56%

54%

53%

49%

49%

47%

47%

46%

JP

MN

FI

TH

DE

FR

IE

NZ

TW

KR

The least familiar countries*

Q: How familiar do you feel with how your personal data is currently collected and used?

% “Not at all + not very familiar”

UNFAMILIARITY with how personal data is collected and used is highest

amongst females, especially older one

Unfamiliarity by age & sex

24%

23%

32%

29%

31%

32%

Male 18-34

Male 35-54

Male 55+

Female 18-34

Female 35-54

Female 55+

% “Not at all familiar” /

% “not at all + not very familiar”

Concerned

3% Don’t Know

The relationship between familiarity and concern – GLOBAL

Not familiar, but

concerned

Not familiar and not

concerned

Not concerned

Unfamiliar Familiar

Familiar and very

concerned

Familiar, but not

concerned

7%

47% 32%

10%

Summary of findings

There is no strong correlation between the degree of familiarity and the degree of concern.

Globally half of adults claim to be familiar and concerned, one-third unfamiliar, but concerned. One fifth of people claim to be familiar and very concerned, whilst 14% are unfamiliar, but still very concerned.

The proportion who claim to be unfamiliar and concerned rises to one-in-four in the APAC region with females, and in particular females aged 35-54 being most likely to say they are unfamiliar but concerned about the possible misuse of their personal data.

Concerned

3% Don’t Know

The relationship between familiarity and concern – APAC

Not familiar, but

concerned

Not familiar and

not concerned

Not

concerned

Unfamiliar Familiar

Familiar and very

concerned

Familiar, but not

concerned

6%

45% 39%

8%

Concerned

3% Don’t Know

The relationship between familiarity and concern - Europe

Not familiar, but

concerned

Not familiar and

not concerned

Not

concerned

Unfamiliar Familiar

Familiar and very

concerned

Familiar, but not

concerned

10%

42% 30%

15%

Concerned

4% Don’t Know

Not familiar, but

concerned

Not familiar and

not concerned

Not

concerned

Unfamiliar Familiar

Familiar and very

concerned

Familiar, but not

concerned

4%

61% 21%

8%

The relationship between familiarity and concern – The Americas

Who do people trust with their Personal Data?

"data.path Ryoji.Ikeda - 3" by r2hox is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/9990016123/in/photolist-834e93-7K6TWX-deKzer-7PMpXT-6UDnWP-gdMrKi-8Lsgfn-nX546-ax8z4B-9rnTdL-6GiYkV-i3Rby3-7GaoYw-bf2wtK-bf2wpa-i3NECz-5NfuQU-gdMuhT-22CjS2-9uDrJR-688e4k-9fLRVv-kk3mZ-FMVAH-fY9CgE-bvtCC4-ekYLQy-92kp1F-bf2wDV-h4RV3y-7R6usE-ddn5G7-o94Cj-2dkp-6EMnyQ-98rFiH-dRuMzt-4nWCrn-ddn815-7n3FjS-gbA7WS-amkoeY-i3N6NQ-5YiALt-c2nrdA-fkKdFR-nMui2q-9U1s1d-i3NEP6-5hrCbv







Trust - Contents

Overall Trust

Trust in market research companies

Trust in media, business and the authorities compared to MR

Trust in ”media” organisations

- Social media & search engines

- Local & foreign media companies

Trust in ”business” organisations

- On-line stores

- Mobile & internet operators

- Retailers & credit card companies

- Local & foreign banks

Trust in the Authorities

- National secret services

- The Government / the police

Trust in foreign vs local organisations

Overall level of Trust in organisations not to misuse Personal Data

""Dew web" by photophilde is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photophilde/4527076709/in/photolist-5X8daw-mqKdep-pfAsFz-fmwZ8h-9EaJUG-7U3sbH-dzjoe2-5qPXHc-bq9WCj-mSLwB-6xpJZs-4VA9Sa-p8hEc4-7tnTKo-5kefz7-3WNw1-9uiLi5-dLZ9dw-jZ9VwF-pfZUrr-5fg9Hc-5zu9DF-5t3c9G-CCCph-CaDYp-dyqwh5-bCZBJ6-3YzhkF-9zZwSJ-79P5vx-g7GJ1H-67XfDi-v6a5U-eGyM2k-sCjJb-9VhNe1-oQZYYo-pPZ4nM-8y6L2B-ieLJGW-cAf8Ej-2GsmQG-7dgCez-dxKymD-6Xr8ps-fEvi3W-fKFX2a-amjKMc-azxxFc-4PWvdq



Trust in organisations not to misuse Personal Data

Summary of findings

In this research, 17 different types of organisations were evaluated on the amount of trust people have in them to protect and appropriately use their data.

On average, only 13% indicated a high level of trust in a given organisation and as many as one-third expressed a low level of trust.

Trust is relatively lowest in the Americas*, with Canada proving the exception. In Europe, trust is lowest in France, the UK and Ireland.

In APAC, people show relatively more trust in organisations not to misuse their personal data, but even in that region, for every one person who trusts an organisation, there are two who do not. The least trusting nations in APAC are South Korea, which has the highest level of distrust out of the 24 countries surveyed, and Australia, ranking 10th on distrust.

Overall, sex has no difference on how much people trust organisations to protect and appropriately use their data, but age has a huge impact, with distrust very high stronger amongst the over 34’s.

How concerned people are about the issue also has a great impact on the level of trust, but to some extent how familiar people feel they are, also has an impact, with those claiming to be less familiar, also less trusting.

* Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across

countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Average level of trust based on 17 different

types of organisations

(Average across the 24 countries)

Low trust (Rating: 1 to 2)

34%

High trust (Rating: 6 to 7)

13%

Some trust / don’t know

(Rating: 3 to 5 / dk)

53%


GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-34%

-30%

-34%

-39%

13%

15%

12%

12%

Low Trust (Rating: 1 to 2)

High Trust (Rating: 6 to 7)

-20

-15

-22

-27

Q: Here is a list of different organizations or companies that may collect and process

your personal data. To what degree do you trust each of them to protect and

appropriately use your personal data? (7 = trust very much 1 = trust very little)

-35%

-33%

-31%

-30%

-29%

-29%

-28%

-27%

-25%

KR

BR

FR

US

UK

MX

IE

AR

AU

* NTI = % giving a high rating (6 or 7) - % giving a


% “trusting very little” /

“trusting very much”

NTI *

(net trust index) The countries with the lowest

average NTI

Trust is low on this issue across the globe

Average level of trust not to misuse Personal Data

(based on 17 different types of organisations )

GLOBAL average

Unfamiliar and concerned

Familiar and concerned

Familiar and concerned

Unfamiliar but not concerned

-20%

-29%

-22%

-8%

1%






NTI *

(net trust index)

Those who are both unfamiliar and concerned have the lowest level of trust, and

the level distrust is also much higher amongst the 35’s

Average level of trust not to misuse Personal Data

(based on 17 different types of organisations )

-11%

-23%

-28%

-16%

-25%

-25%

Male 18-34

Male 35-54

Male 55+

Female 18-34

Female 35-54

Female 55+

The police

Local banks

The national government

National Intelligence services

Credit card companies

Local online stores

Retailers with loyalty cards

Market research companies

Foreign banks

Mobile phone operators

-19%

-19%

-26%

-27%

-26%

-28%

-30%

-31%

-34%

-34%

33%

26%

24%

22%

18%

9%

10%

10%

12%

10%

Low Trust (Rating: 1 to 2) High Trust (Rating: 6 to 7)

14

7

-2

-5

-8

-19

-20

-21

-22

-23






Trust in the police and government is particular low in the Americas, specifically in Latin America, with trust in the police being very low in Mexico.



NTI *

(net trust index)

Only 2 of the 17 different types of organisations researched have a positive net

trust index, namely the police and local banks.

Most trusted types of organisations not to misuse Personal Data

Internet search co.'s (e.g Google,

Bing)

Local media companies

Internet operators

Foreign online stores

Social media (e.g Facebook,

Twitter, Weibo, Weixin)

Foreign media companies

Foreign secret service

organisations

-37%

-35%

-37%

-44%

-47%

-47%

-49%

10%

7%

8%

6%

7%

5%

7%


-27

-29

-29

-38

-40

-42

-42






% “trusting very little” / “trusting very much”

NTI *

(net trust index)

Mistrust in foreign organisations is particularly high

Globally, the least trusted organisations are foreign secret service organisations, foreign media and social media companies.

Trust in foreign organisations, including foreign banks and media, is relatively high in the APAC region and relatively low in Europe, where trust in social media and internet search companies is also low compared to other regions.

Least trusted types of organisations not to misuse Personal Data

Trust in Market Research Companies

""Touch sensitive !" by Pranav Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pranavsingh/1196494552/in/photolist-8HDJ5B-3ZGLAL-8Hqsfk-8P9AZr-8LcQnZ-9sCSbt-2PJm9q-5VeyVV-osVTkU-odsRTN-5rKYnm-4imzmV-9y4WG1-cpgvBS-4eiPs4-8hHYF-4E3vf4-aq35bR-4MDuet-5KzEfg-25j1XF-CepHT-mRedZw-nqgnC5-TPvo-6b6sLk-nGts8R-5dzYxp-4G6NdX-9pLjy3-9pHhWc-9pLjD3-9pGDER-4UuMDj-TPvk-TPvm-4EWShg-cMmLEo-dosW8j-z3dtd-mRcqb4-fectj-6YrEt1-8jywHg-4JpuGu-8JpRVC-dgX4j2-avRc5u-6ewG1E-njXzpZ



Trust in Market Research Summary of findings

On average one-in-ten people shows a high level of trust in the market research industry on not misusing their personal data, with three-in-ten showing a low level of trust.

This result means that the trust in the MR industry is on an average level compared to the 16 other types of organisations included in the research. Trust is somewhat lower in the Americas than elsewhere, which reflects the general level of trust expressed in that region compared to the other two regions.

Germany stands out as the only country of the 24 researched having a positive net trust index, with one-in-five Germans have a high level of trust in the MR industry and only 15% a low level of trust.

In absolute terms, trust in the MR industry is also relatively high in Mongolia*, Thailand*, China and Italy, with the industry having a marginally negative net trust index in these countries. Three out of five of the countries with the lowest level of trust in the MR industry in absolute terms can be found in the APAC region; South Korea, Singapore and Australia, with these three joined by the USA and the UK.

Also, relative to other types of organisations , the market research industry is least trusted in the APAC region , being particularly challenged in Singapore and Australia. In Europe trust in the MR industry is relatively low in the Nordics (Finland and Sweden), as well as the UK, whilst in the Americas it is struggling most in Canada.

When looking at where the market research industry excels relative to other types of organisations on this issue , it is again Germany, which stands head and shoulders above the other countries, with Italy coming in a strong second. Mexico, Brazil and Spain make up the top five.

Average level of trust in the MR industry

(Average across the 24 countries)

Q: Here is a list of different organizations or companies that may collect and process your

personal data. To what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately

use your personal data? (7 = trust very much 1 = trust very little)

Low trust (Rating: 1 to 2)

31%

High trust (Rating: 6 to 7)

10%

Some trust /

don’t know (Rating: 3 to 5 /

dk)

59%

Trust in Market Research

-31%

-30%

-29%

-36%

10%

10%

11%

10%



-21

-20

-19

-25

* NTI = % giving a high rating (6 or 7) - % giving a low

rating (1 or 2) on a 7-point scale

NTI *

(net trust index) % “trusting very little” /


Trust in Market Research Companies


personal data. To what degree do you trust each of them to protect and


GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

DE

MN

TH

CN

IT

AU

SG

US

UK

KR

6%

-3%

-5%

-7%

-10%

-33%

-34%

-35%

-37%

-37%

The countries with the highest /lowest average

NTI in market research companies

DE

10

0%

Trust in

Market

Research

Note: Data was rescaled for representation purposes

Trust in Market Research companies across countries and regions

Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.





* NTI = % giving a high rating (6 or 7) - %

giving a low rating (1 or 2) on a 7-point

scale

6%

-10%

-20%

-24%

-12%

-37%

-26%

-33%

-23%

-29%

-34%

DE

IT

MX

BR

ES

UK

SE

AU

FI

CA

SG

Market Research NTI

28 %

14 %

9 %

9 %

7 %

-7 %

-8 %

-8 %

-8 %

-9 %

-15 %

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-5

+4

+2

+/- vs. avg. NTI

Market Research NTI *

(net trust index)

-21%

-19%

-18%

-26%

+/- vs.

avg. NTI

Relative to the average level of trust in the country, as well as in absolute terms, GERMANY stands out

Trust in Market Research Companies compared to Media /

Business / the Authorities

""Measure a thousand times, cut once" by Sonny Abesamis is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/enerva/14296912543/in/photolist-nMnq18-8h1PWE-5vWNwF-3pq7sS-8GAQus-ogP2Tx-hjbY7-8upCRZ-8upCkB-a3P6Tr-j1Ytsc-99k6YX-99jXti-d2Tei-4r6zAz-AxjPJ-m2s7Q-cbWGD7-5SJSEe-vG2zS-81zki6-4zEURx-mhpDM-5NXXsV-e3oS1v-8JT1Rk-65jGuc-29NHmC-pamtiu-mCUkH1-LA63c-b5RWvT-9D46hV-efFPmC-aH8CPV-7L39vz-nwexti-dHHe6J-cLbsaQ-bdjK3F-dqjqsS-478hAJ-7yZ6Wk-5sUiJM-oHsVNc-9fA9EU-8gXyHD-2GYj4Z-bcaKtt-aXRbri



Trust in Market Research Companies compared to Media / Business / the Authorities

Media Internet search companies Social media companies Local & foreign media companies

Business Local & foreign on-line stores Mobile phone & internet operators Retailers with loyalty cards Credit card companies Local & foreign banks

Authorities National government The police National secret services

* The different methodology in those two countries may impact the results on this question. See technical appendix for details. Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Summary of findings

In order to more easily see how the market research industry performs overall compared to other types of organisations across the globe, the different types of organisations have been classified into 3 categories… business, media and the authorities, as shown opposite. The decision was made to leave foreign secret service organisations out of the authorities group due to the huge difference between trust in that type of organisation compared to other authorities.

Trust in market research companies is overall similar to trust in “business” organisations, but relatively it is weaker in the APAC region, because of the relatively low level of trust in market research companies compared to “business” organisations in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In Europe trust is in MR and trust in “business” organisations is on a similar level, but this average hides the fact that the market research has a much higher level of trust than “business” organisations in Germany and Italy, and a lower level in the Nordics and the UK. Like the UK, in the USA and Canada, trust in the MR industry is clearly below that of trust in “business” organisations.

The MR industry is much more trusted than “media” organisations, particularly in Europe. The difference is greatest in Germany and smallest in the UK, where for example internet search companies are just as much trusted as the market research industry, and local media companies are only marginally less trusted, to protect and appropriately use personal data. In the APAC region, however, the MR industry is only slightly more trusted than these “media” organisations, with a similar level of trust in Mongolia* and South Korea.. Thailand* stands out as a country where “media” organisations are actually more trusted than market research organisations.


Trust in media, business and the authorities compared to market research


personal data. To what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately

use your personal data? (7 = trust very much 1 = trust very little)



scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Market Research NTI *

-21%

-19%

-18%

-26%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Media NTI *

-35%

-27%

-40%

-38%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Business NTI *

-19%

-15%

-20%

-24%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Authorities NTI *

2%

11%

3%

-16%

Trust in “Media” organisations

""data.path Ryoji.Ikeda - 4" by r2hox is licensed under CC BY 2.0








Media Internet search companies Social media companies Local & foreign media companies


Summary of findings

On average, less than one-in-ten people shows a high level of trust in “media” organisations not to misuse their personal data, with over four-in-ten showing a low level of trust.

Trust is relatively high in the APAC region, especially in Mongolia and Thailand*, but also China.

Trust on this issue is lowest in France, Australia the UK. In France this is due especially to the extremely low trust in social media companies, whilst in the UK, this is due to relatively low trust in UK media companies, and Australia to foreign media companies.

Looking at the details, it can be seen that low trust in both search engine companies and social media companies is being driven by very low trust in Europe, whilst the trust in local media companies is lowest in the Americas.

Distrust in “media” organisations is particularly high amongst the over 34’s, even more so than for other types of organisations.


FI

SE

BR

IE

CA

DE

US

NZ

UK

AU

FR

-41%

-41%

-41%

-42%

-42%

-43%

-44%

-45%

-47%

-49%

-50%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-42%

-37%

-45%

-45%

7%

9%

5%

7%


-35

-27

-40

-38

Q: Here is a list of different organizations or companies that may collect and process your personal data. To

what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately use your personal data? (7 = trust very much 1 = trust very little)



NTI *

(net trust index)



The countries with the lowest average

NTI

There is a high level of distrust in “media” organisations across the globe,

but relatively less so in APAC


Trust in “media” organisations


what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately use your personal data? (7 = trust

very much 1 = trust very little)



scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Search engine companies

such as Google/Bings NTI *

-27%

-19%

-36%

-29%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Local media companies NTI*

-29%

-26%

-28%

-35%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Social media (e.g Facebook,

Twitter, Weibo, Weixin) NTI *

-40%

-31%

-49%

-43%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Foreign media companies

NTI*

-42%

-34%

-48%

-46%

Trust in Search Engine / Social Media companies

""Growing social media" by mkhmarketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8539048913/in/photolist-4Ey3KY-qbX8Sy-bEWTt-5MWXpt-4JFbuA-dskNAc-d2Dnff-c9FLYw-7VcaHZ-bWcE6h-e1yRKg-e1HpQq-2Lt1jM-7zi7sE-cqVc-dZkGx-2WoDMQ-bg1Fr-b5twQD-7DHSAH-avdbPe-2szqja-Hhoa1-8SjHcV-e5wZ3t-aC8KJG-8onC9R-8RszNr-8sDSfN-5XNfPs-pw3E4J-8d9dGt-9G29iR-tFvaL-8vGRq3-b5bVVB-8WnyVB-mL2jFA-5LXRC7-9sRzWp-5XJ1Qc-8xANkD-axtohs-8N1784-qBkSW-6AX2Qo-6NRtgE-6h6Ay2-dFUPV-4BjJ3e



Trust in Search Engine / Social Media companies


Summary of findings

Search engine companies such as Google/Bing are trusted slightly less than average on protecting and appropriately using personal data (ranked 11 out of 17).

Trust in search engine companies is relatively high in the APAC region, and in this region it is on a par with trust in the market research industry, whilst amongst younger males in that region, the former is even more trusted than the latter. In contrast, trust in search engine companies is lowest in Europe, being particularly low in France.

Overall, trust in social media companies on this issue is very low, ranking 15 out of 17, with just under half of people globally stating a very low level of trust. This proportion rises to 53% in Europe, where only 4% show a high level of trust in such companies not to misuse their personal data, and in Europe this is the least trusted type of organization of all those included in the survey.

As with search engine companies it is in France where the level of trust is the lowest, but citizens in many other European countries are also untrusting, and citizens in Australia, New Zealand and Canada also share the same opinion.

Countries where trust in search engine & social media companies is relatively high include Thailand*, Mongolia*, China and Argentina.


NL

CA

NZ

KR

IE

SG

BR

FI

UK

SE

DE

AU

FR

-34%

-35%

-36%

-36%

-36%

-37%

-37%

-37%

-37%

-38%

-39%

-40%

-45%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-37%

-32%

-42%

-39%

10%

13%

6%

10%


-27

-19

-36

-29





NTI *




NTI

Trust in search engine companies is low in France, but relatively high in the APAC

region being driven by higher trust amongst young adults

Trust in search engine companies such as Google/Bing

ES

BR

US

SE

IE

FI

CA

UK

NZ

AU

DE

FR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-47%

-41%

-53%

-49%

7%

9%

4%

7%


-40

-31

-49

-43



-44%

-45%

-47%

-49%

-49%

-49%

-51%

-52%

-54%

-56%

-57%

-63%



NTI *




NTI

Trust in Social media companies is very low, especially in Europe

Trust in Social media (e.g Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, Weixin)

Trust in Media companies

""Newstand near Nanjing University" by Kevin Dooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/9284922216/in/photolist-f9tDTN-5czqyf-7iud62-4voXjm-5cva8X-PFZJY-5AmUCM-fGWkXu-9PMhQH-dBZQTe-7WDwcW-5cwtGx-5cvhat-5czwQC-5cvcj4-5cQYW3-5cztTy-5PB8sn-4HmWi1-5yt3CV-pcPoG-ap353f-bDK94d-35fL-6JosD2-35fN-4Vr6dh-8C5F6K-gxSw2-3VwWN-2DDk-e3FVNP-bmtSnY-aPeUh-CjuNq-ogK6QP-ogK6JB-brhxih-bEct3H-brhxuh-brhxxo-brhxns-6NeM8q-5RFECc-dHHv4s-FAvPT-6dkTTe-D3K8E-eZP3o-6iwUEv



Trust in Media companies

Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Summary of findings

Trust in local media companies is just below average compared to trust in other types of organisations, and trust Is lower in the Americas than elsewhere, with a relatively low level of trust in all 5 countries surveyed in that region.

In Europe and the APAC region, opinions on how well local media companies can be trusted to protect and appropriately use personal data vary considerably from country to country.

In Europe, lowest trust in local media companies is found in the UK, whereas in the APAC region it is lowest in Australia and Taiwan. Relative to trust in other types of organisations the local media is relatively well trusted on this issue in Japan and South Korea.

Trust in foreign media is much lower than trust in local media, ranking second from bottom on trust in all three regions. It is lowest in the USA, where as many as two-thirds of US citizens distrust them on this issue. In Europe, it is in the UK and France, where you find the least trust in foreign media, whilst in APAC it is in Australia and New Zealand.

In APAC the low trust in foreign media organisations is driven by a very high level of distrust amongst the over 34’s.

.


AR

FR

IE

NZ

KR

MX

US

TW

UK

BR

AU

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-35%

-34%

-34%

-41%

7%

8%

6%

6%


-29

-26

-28

-35


what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately use your personal data? (7 = trust very

much 1 = trust very little)

-31%

-33%

-33%

-35%

-35%

-36%

-38%

-39%

-40%

-41%

-43%



NTI *




NTI

Trust in LOCAL Media companies is low across the Americas, as well as the UK and

Australia. In Taiwan local media companies are the least trusted type of organization.

Trust in LOCAL Media companies

SG

FI

CA

DE

NZ

FR

AU

UK

US

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-47%

-41%

-51%

-51%

5%

7%

3%

5%


-42

-34

-48

-46




-50%

-52%

-53%

-53%

-55%

-58%

-58%

-60%

-63%



NTI *




NTI

Trust in foreign media companies is lowest in the USA, where as many as

two-thirds of US citizens distrust them on this issue.

Trust in FOREIGN Media companies

Trust in business

""Transparent Roof" by mrhayata is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrhayata/6944372682/



Trust in business

Business Local & foreign on-line stores Mobile phone & internet operators Retailers with loyalty cards Credit card companies Local & foreign banks


Summary of findings

Trust in different types of “businesses” to protect and appropriately use personal data is clear higher than trust in “media companies”.

Overall, trust is highest in the APAC region, because of relatively high levels of trust in Thailand*, Mongolia* and China, whereas trust in business on this issue is particularly low in South Korea, where trust is lower than in any of the other 23 countries surveyed. In particular banks (both local and foreign) as well as mobile phone operators are trusted more in the APAC region than elsewhere.

In Europe, trust in business varies somewhat by country, being highest in Finland and lowest in France, the UK and Ireland, whilst in the Americas it is highest in Canada.

Low trust in “business” organisations in Europe is driven by a lower trust in foreign on-line stores and foreign banks, whilst in the Americas it is relative low trust in mobile and internet operators, as well as retailers with loyalty cards that explains why “business” organisations are trusted less in that region-

In the APAC region, these types of “business” organisations are slightly more trusted than market research companies, being much more trusted in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and in Europe the same is true in Finland, Sweden and the UK.

Germany and Italy stand out as the only two countries where significantly more people trust market research companies than these “businesses” to not misuse their data.


TH

MN

CN

FI

IE

UK

US

BR

FR

KR

-1%

-2%

-4%

-8%

-25%

-25%

-27%

-28%

-30%

-39%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-31%

-29%

-31%

-36%

12%

14%

11%

12%


-19

-15

-20

-24






NTI *



The countries with the highest /lowest

average NTI

Trust in “business” organisations is lowest in the Americas, with a very low

trust in retailers on this issue in Latin America

Trust in “business” organisations

Trust in “business” organisations (1/2)






scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Local on-line stores NTI *

-19%

-21%

-16%

-21%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Mobile Phone operators NTI*

-23%

-16%

-25%

-34%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Foreign on-line stores NTI *

-38%

-33%

-44%

-38%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Internet operators NTI*

-29%

-25%

-29%

-38%

Trust in “business” organisations (2/2)






scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Retailers with loyalty

programmes NTI *

-20%

-19%

-17%

-27%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Local banks NTI*

7%

9%

5%

4%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Credit card companies NTI *

-8%

-5%

-8%

-12%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Foreign banks NTI*

-22%

-12%

-29%

-27%

Trust in the On-line Stores

"Credit card of future" by Robert Scoble is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/5451075127/



Trust in the On-line Stores


Summary of findings

Trust in local on-line stores to protect and appropriately use personal data is higher than average, ranking 6th out of 17 globally. Trust is higher in Europe than elsewhere, and compared to trust in other types of organisations, however, it is relatively low in APAC.

In APAC the relatively low level of trust is driven by a very low level of trust in South Korea, but relative to other types of organisations it is also low in China (ranked 15 out of 17), as well as Thailand* and Mongolia.*

In Europe trust in local on-line stores is highest in Finland, where the net trust index is almost neutral, and it is also better than average in Germany.

Trust in foreign on-line stores on this issue is relatively low, ranking 14 out of 17, with as many as 44% of citizens, globally, having a low level of trust.

Citizens in the Americas are divided on this issue, with those in the USA having the lowest level of trust in foreign on-line stores out of the 24 countries surveyed, whilst in Mexico and Brazil, such companies are relatively trusted (ranking 6th and 8th respectively compared to other types of organisations in those countries).


MX

FR

IE

AU

TW

AR

BR

SG

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-28%

-30%

-25%

-31%

9%

9%

9%

10%


-19

-21

-16

-21



-22%

-22%

-22%

-22%

-23%

-25%

-26%

-27%

-38%



NTI *




average NTI

Trust in LOCAL on-line stores is relatively high in Europe, in particular, in

Finland, but also in Germany

Trust in LOCAL on-line Stores

FI

NZ

SG

SE

AU

DE

UK

FR

US

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-44%

-40%

-48%

-45%

6%

7%

4%

8%


-38

-33

-44

-38




-44%

-44%

-46%

-48%

-48%

-50%

-52%

-56%

-59%



NTI *




average NTI

Trust in FOREIGN on-line stores is very low, particularly amongst older

adults, but is relatively high in Mexico and Brazil

Trust in FOREIGN on-line Stores

Trust in Mobile Phone / Internet operators

""Data immersion" by Idaho National Laboratory is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/inl/5097547405/in/set-72157625199003636/



Trust in Mobile Phone / Internet operators


Summary of findings

Trust in mobile phone and internet operators to protect and appropriately use personal data is somewhat below average globally compared to other types of organisations.

Trust in mobile phone operators is slightly higher than trust in internet operators on this issue, in particular in APAC, due to a high level of trust in Thailand*, Mongolia*, Japan, China, and relative to other types of organisations, also in Singapore. The exception in APAC is South Korea, where mobile phone operators are ranked 16th out of 17th on trust, and internet operators 17th.

Mobile phone operators are trusted less in the Americas than elsewhere, due especially to a low level of trust in Brazil, whereas such operators are relatively well trusted in the US and Canada relative to other types of organisations.

In Europe, trust in internet operators on this issue is very low in Ireland, whilst in Finland mobile phone operators are relatively well trusted.


TH

MN

JP

CN

FI

BR

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-34%

-29%

-33%

-42%

10%

13%

8%

9%


-23

-16

-25

-34




8%

3%

-4%

-4%

-9%

-44%

-49%



NTI *




average NTI

Trust in Mobile Phone operators varies hugely across the globe, with

South Korea and Brazil standing out with very low levels of trust

Trust in Mobile Phone operators

TH

MN

CN

CA

BR

US

IE

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-37%

-35%

-36%

-44%

8%

10%

6%

7%


-29

-25

-29

-38



-3%

-5%

-8%

-41%

-41%

-41%

-42%

-49%



NTI *




average NTI

Trust in Internet operators is lower than trust in mobile phone operators, in

particular in the APAC region

Trust in Internet operators

Trust in Credit card companies / Retailers with

loyalty programmes

""Credit card" by Ed Ivanushkin is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barsen/3714941137/in/photolist-9qSX1P-69xDbB-3qTLZW-9VxBhR-9VxAFa-9fFFfy-2n1atT-kkUu3B-9iKjiL-4BQJRf-64Fobe-aFDofK-ayZf5K-bQzbXX-9iGbUx-dLXmXM-bZw1ym-bu6uz5-6Eh3zg-a4yY5-be1Xvv-ayZi8V-9qSWGR-bf3RoR-bnjUqX-bf3Sy6-9iGbHV-7TrC58-9VAsVf-be24vM-4Zvf7V-kkWaCN-6bruKt-9WQDyw-2akLJh-be22H8-cs9foU-be26hD-jcmRXj-efvXcu-be1ZHr-6mtyQc-b6MFfg-bAerR9-9bhY2Q-MHHzy-dxspTt-jWx5L-75CAER-9XGecF



Trust in Retailers with loyalty programmes / Credit card companies

* The different methodology in Thailand and Mongolia may impact the results on this question. See technical appendix for details. Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Summary of findings

Trust with retailers to protect and appropriately use personal data is on an average level, and therefore for every one person trusting them, three do not.

Trust in retailers stands out as being very low in the Americas, due to distrust in Latin America, where distrust is especially high amongst younger adults.

In APRC trust varies considerably from very low in South Korea to relatively high in New Zealand and Thailand*, whilst in Europe trust is on a much more even level across countries, with the exception of Spain and Finland, where these types of retailers are reasonably trusted to not misuse personal data.

In Finland, credit card companies are also well trusted, with Finland being the only country in Europe with a positive net trust index, whilst the French show relatively low trust in credit card companies on this issue.

In APAC, South Korea stands out, with credit card companies ranked 15th out of 17 on trust not to misuse personal data.


ES

FI

TH

NZ

MX

AR

BR

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-30%

-29%

-27%

-36%

10%

10%

10%

9%


-20

-19

-17

-27



-5%

-5%

-7%

-10%

-32%

-35%

-38%

-40%



NTI * (net trust index)




average NTI

Trust in Retailers with loyalty programmes is particularly low in Latin

America

Trust in Retailers with loyalty programmes

FI

MN

CN

NZ

CA

JP

MX

FR

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-26%

-24%

-25%

-30%

18%

19%

17%

18%


-8

-5

-8

-12



15%

12%

11%

5%

5%

4%

-25%

-26%

-43%



NTI *




average NTI

Citizens in many countries globally trust credit card companies

reasonably well with their personal data

Trust in Credit card companies

Trust in banks

""Banking the Light" by David is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmacsc99/4325336251/in/photolist-9cDGzv-7AdtLX-9nf7MU-nbQVwt-a2F9z2-4rMUgs-5hm6MP-bSv1hk-oRSi9m-bumJb-4T8Ewo-8WGYzS-9B1Qwy-52bYaY-51ajc-F6Vjx-n9nq61-4bDaXK-brN53G-7rj9qa-7wat7L-oj5Xwd-4zmP7W-63Nrwr-bta3kH-hjsKL-bmm93i-bgfxZz-bmm7zF-JFEVq-bLxXgt-4s8Rb4-miB7b-4HbvPV-7AV3c5-8s5mWi-bLMV2D-9K2QYL-7YiYvR-95HHSL-7KCw13-avmSZF-4DRhAj-gqXPE-bgfz6X-bmm9MT-9VB8Lx-bgfBHz-5oyxw4-4Nr5Qb



Trust in Banks


Summary of findings

Local banks are relatively well trusted to protect and appropriately use personal data, and have a positive net trust index in all regions. Even in South Korea, where the net trust index is negative, this type of organization is still in the top 5 (out of 17) on trust.

In APAC local banks are most trusted on this issue in New Zealand and China, whilst relative to trust in other types of organisations local banks are very well trusted in Japan and Malaysia.

In the Americas the local banks are extremely well trusted on this issue in Canada (+31% net trust index), whilst citizens in the USA are much less trusting (+6% net trust index).

In Europe, citizens are divided as to whether they trust their local banks, with those in the Nordics trusting them very highly, and those in Ireland, France and Italy having a relatively low level of trust.

Trust in foreign banks tends to be low across the globe, especially in Europe, but less so in APAC, where foreign banks are relatively well trusted in Thailand*, China and Mongolia*. The opinions of citizens are divided in the Americas with a relatively high trust in foreign banks in Latin America and a very low level of trust in North America.


CA

FI

SE

NZ

CN

BR

MX

IT

FR

IE

KR

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-19%

-18%

-19%

-23%

26%

27%

24%

27%


+7

+9

+5

+4




31%

28%

24%

23%

22%

-6%

-7%

-7%

-8%

-10%

-27%



NTI *




average NTI

Citizens are more likely than not to trust LOCAL banks to protect and use

appropriately their personal data

Trust in LOCAL banks

TH

CN

MN

CA

FI

IT

AU

DE

UK

FR

US

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-34%

-27%

-38%

-39%

12%

15%

8%

12%


-22

-12

-29

-27




15%

5%

2%

-30%

-30%

-30%

-32%

-39%

-41%

-42%

-48%



NTI *




average NTI

FOREIGN banks are highly mistrusted in many countries, especially in

Europe, but also in the USA

Trust in FOREIGN banks

Trust in the authorities

"Justice Gavel" by Tori Rector is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124387535@N03/14135683605/in/photolist-nx85fR-eN5NPg-fh9Dcc-48qc8x-5nzYKh-4rDYe7-o96yfY-vcMz-P9URH-jZaNnR-kmeeTY-bvyfJx-391TRa-Bt7eG-qLk3X-4v8hTt-4fy3ag-cnX48f-om1t2Q-395WXx-bSM5FZ-4SZmnN-fho54o-awRrL-Bt7eQ-f8fEXm-9LoChD-dSwpet-bSM5pK-oCjRRa-3qhgd-6pkfTC-6DWwa-5Y3htE-ayW8XK-977VaH-bBM3sf-csNsps-mo1HyT-aRKuqM-9rkUd-cXUReL-a5QJN-5MMhck-cB5vSw-d7NnwY-dSC62S-75B6iM-68BQZq-4nYkjk




Authorities National government The police National secret services


Summary of findings

Globally citizens are equally divided as to whether to trust the authorities to protect and appropriately use their personal data.

Regionally, there are huge differences, with citizens in APAC more likely to trust the authorities, and those in the Americas much less likely to do so, with the latter caused by a very low level of trust in Latin America.

In the APAC region, it is citizens in China, Singapore and Mongolia*, who claim to have the most trust in the authorities on this issue, whilst in Europe it is in the Nordics where the authorities are most trusted.

Whilst in general over 34 year olds show a lower level of trust in organisations on protecting and appropriately using personal data, this is less true with respect to the authorities.

In the APAC region, all three types of authorities are more likely to be trusted than not, whereas in Europe it is only the police, which has a positive net trust index.

In the Americas in contrast, all three authorities are more likely to be distrusted than trusted, in particular the national governments.


CN

SG

MN

FI

AU

CA

SE

KR

AR

BR

MX

41%

30%

26%

21%

18%

17%

16%

-18%

-25%

-29%

-34%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-24%

-20%

-23%

-35%

26%

31%

26%

19%


+2

+11

+3

-16






NTI *




average NTI

Trust in the authorities varies from being relatively high in APAC, especially China,

to very low in Latin America

Trust in the authorities, excluding foreign secret services







scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

The Government NTI*

-2%

8%

-3%

-21%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

National Secret Services NTI*

-5%

9%

-11%

-16%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

The Police NTI *

14%

16%

24%

-10%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Foreign Secret Services NTI*

-42%

-34%

-47%

-47%

Trust in the Secret Services

"Spy vs. Spy" by Tony Fischer is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/4673429271/



Trust in the Secret Services

# This question was not asked in Japan or Thailand. ## This question was not asked in Thailand * The different methodology in Thailand and Mongolia may impact the results on this question. See technical appendix for details. Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Summary of findings

The national secret services have a positive net trust index in APAC#, but a negative one elsewhere, with four of the top five ranked countries on this measure coming from APAC. Trust is extremely positive in China, but also in Mongolia*.

The national secret services are also positively trusted in APAC in Australia and Singapore, whilst in New Zealand citizens are more likely than not to distrust their national secret services. Relative to other types of organisations the lowest level of trust in national secret services in APAC is to be found in Malaysia.

In Europe, Swedes are the most positive about their national secret services not misusing their personal data, whilst citizens in Germany, Italy and Ireland are much less trusting. In the Americas, the Canadians have a neutral net trust balance, whereas the US citizens are similar to Latin America people, in that they have a much higher distrust of national secret service organisations.

Across the globe, foreign secret service organisations## are highly distrusted, ranking lowest of all 17 organization types in APAC and the Americas and 15th in Europe. In particular, the Germans show the least amount of trust, followed by US citizens.

Relative to trust in other types of organisations, trust in foreign secret services is high in South Korea and Malaysia, and in the Americas, is higher in Mexico than elsewhere in the region.


CN

MN

AU

SG

SE

IE

BR

DE

IT

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-27%

-21%

-29%

-34%

22%

30%

19%

17%



-5

+9

-11

-16




45%

34%

17%

17%

11%

-25%

-26%

-27%

-28%



# Not asked in

Japan nor

Thailand

NTI *




average NTI

Citizens in APAC stand out as trusting their National Secret Services not to

misuse their personal data

Trust in National Secret Services

SG

SE

NZ

AR

CA

IE

BR

UK

AU

FI

US

DE

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-49%

-43%

-52%

-54%

7%

9%

5%

6%


-42

-34

-47

-47




-46%

-47%

-47%

-47%

-48%

-49%

-50%

-50%

-51%

-52%

-56%

-64%



# Not

asked in

Thailand

NTI *




average NTI

Distrust in Foreign Secret Services is a global phenomenon

Trust in Foreign Secret Services

Trust in the Government / the Police

""Diritto Civile Italiano" by Nicola Baron is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nxb/964760807/



Trust in the Government / the Police


Summary of findings

The national governments have a neutral net trust index on average globally, with a slightly positive balance in APAC and a very negative one in Latin America.

The positiveness on trust with personal data in APAC is driven by strong trust in the government in Singapore and China, as well as Mongolia*.

In Europe, the government has a positive net trust index in Finland and Germany, as well as Sweden, whereas in Ireland, France, Italy and the UK citizens are more likely to distrust than trust their government on this issue.

The police are most trusted type of organization out of the 17 surveyed when it comes to protecting and appropriately using personal data. The net trust index of the police is clearly positive in APAC and Europe, but is negative in the Americas, due to a very low level of trust in Latin America, in particular in Mexico.

In APAC, the only exception to the rule is Thailand*, where the police comes in as the 12th most trusted type of organization (out of the 15 asked about in that country), with as many as 31% of citizens in that country not trusting the police.

Finland stands out globally, as well as in Europe, as the country where the police is the most trusted on this issue, whereas trust is lowest in Europe in the UK, France and Ireland.


SG

CN

MN

CA

FI

DE

IE

KR

AR

BR

MX

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-26%

-20%

-25%

-38%

24%

29%

22%

18%


-2

+8

-3

-21




37%

36%

18%

17%

16%

12%

-20%

-22%

-31%

-37%

-37%



NTI *




average NTI

Trust in the Government varies dramatically across the globe, with Asia on one

end and Latin America on the other end of the trust scale

Trust in the Government

FI

CN

SG

TH

KR

AR

BR

MX

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-19%

-17%

-14%

-32%

33%

33%

38%

22%


+14

+16

+24

-10




49%

43%

36%

-10%

-16%

-24%

-25%

-46%



NTI *




average NTI

The Police is the most trusted type of organization: Mexico and Finland

stand out as the two extremes

Trust in the Police

Trust in Foreign vs local organisations

""Alien Crafts" by Wendy Piersall is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wendypiersall/4406503559/




Foreign vs. local Media companies On-line stores Banks Secret services

* The different methodology in Thailand and Mongolia may impact the results on this question. See technical appendix for details.. Care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries and regions due to possible scale-usage bias. Click here to read a Research Now white paper on this issue.

Summary of findings

People are much more likely to trust local organisations compared to foreign ones. Whereas the average net trust index in the four local types of organisations listed opposite is -11, the average for the four foreign equivalents is -36.

This relative distrust in foreign organisations is particularly noticeable in Europe, especially in Finland, Germany and Sweden, whereas this phenomenon is much less noticeable in Italy or Ireland.

In APAC, South Koreans and Thais* stand out as showing an almost similar trust in foreign and local organisations, whilst people in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand all show a clearly higher level of trust in local organisations.

In the Americas, there is little difference between the perceptions of local and foreign on this issue in Latin America, whilst in both Canada and the US, there is a huge bias towards local organisations when it comes to trust in them protecting and appropriately using personal data.


FR

NZ

UK

SG

SE

AU

DE

US

CA

FI

-31%

-32%

-33%

-34%

-37%

-38%

-38%

-40%

-40%

-44%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-25%

-21%

-30%

-23%

Q: Here is a list of different organizations or companies that may collect and process your personal data. To what degree do you trust each of them to protect and appropriately use your personal data? (7 = trust very




Average Foreign vs. Local NTI difference* (net trust index)

The countries with largest difference

between foreign and local NTI’s









scale

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

Media companies – Difference in

foreign vs local NTI*

-13%

-8%

-20%

-11%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-28%

-21%

-34%

-32%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-19%

-13%

-28%

-17%

GLOBAL average

APAC average

EUROPE average

AMERICAS average

-38%

-44%

-36%

-31%

Secret service organisations –

Difference in foreign vs local NTI* On-line store – Difference in foreign

vs local NTI*

Banks – Difference in foreign vs local NTI*

Sensitive Data

""Fragile" by Agata is licensed under CC BY 2.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/heartart/72499105/

Sensitive Data

Summary of findings

Many types of data are considered to be sensitive, not just private, and of the 29 types of data asked about, eight are considered to be sensitive by 50% or more of citizens across the globe.

It is unsurprising that the majority of people consider financial account / passport / personal identification numbers to be sensitive data, with the majority also considering health and criminal records to be sensitive. Biometric identifiers (such as retina scans and voice signatures) are also considered to be sensitive by more than half citizens.

What is perhaps more surprising is that almost half of citizens around the globe consider physical location information (home address and location via mobile phone signals), as well as virtual location information (IP address) to be sensitive.

Using factor analysis, four different types of personal data were identified; critical, identifying, digital and labelling.

On a regional level, Europeans are slightly more likely to consider a given type of data to be sensitive, and citizens in APAC slightly less so, with this difference driven by the fact that Europeans are more likely to consider critical and labelling data to be sensitive. Citizens in the Americas are least likely to be concerned by the sensitivity of labelling data.

Globally, females are more likely than males to consider all four types of data to be sensitive, especially more so with respect to identifying data.

By age, 25-44 year olds are most likely to consider data to be sensitive and 18-24 and 65+ years old least likely to do so. Amongst 18-24 this is due to the fact that this age group is less concerned about critical data types, whilst the 65+ year olds are less concerned about digital data, which, in contrast, 18-24 years are just as likely to see as sensitive as 25-44 year olds.

Perceived familiarity with how personal data is used does not impact the degree to which different types of data are considered sensitive. In contrast, how concerned a person is correlates very strongly with perceptions of sensitivity. When looking at what differentiates those who are very concerned from those who are fairly concerned, the former are more likely to consider digital and identifying types of data as critical, which is especially the case in Europe.

Financial account numbers Passport number

Personal identification number

A scan of your retina

Health records

Voice signature

Name

Date of birth

Where you were born

Age

Home address

A picture of yourself

Email address

Mobile phone number

Websites you have visited

Purchases on the internet

Posts by others about you in

social media

Posts you make about you in social media

Information from loyalty

programs

Location data via phone

signals IP or MAC address

Religion

Sexual orientation

Political affiliation Weight

Union membership

CRITICAL DATA DIGITAL DATA

IDENTIFYING DATA LABELLING DATA

% considering item to be

“sensitive personal data” 77%

68%

66%

61%

58%

56%

52%

50%

49%

47%

47%

Financial account numbers

Passport number

Personal identification no.

Health records

A scan of your retina

Criminal record

Your salary

Your voice signature

Your IP or MAC address

Location data via mobile

Your home address

GLOBAL average

Many different types of data are considered sensitive, not

just personal

Q Please tell us how you

personally would classify the

following types of information.

Do you see each type as

sensitive personal data, personal data that is not

sensitive or not something you

would consider personal data?

Which types of data are considered to be sensitive?

(top ranking out of 27 alternatives)

37%

63%

31%

28%

23%

Average

Critial

Identifying

Digital

Labelling

APAC

Americas

Global

Europe

40%

67%

31%

29%

27%

Average

Critial

Identifying

Digital

Labelling

37%

64%

31%

29%

19%

Average

Critial

Identifying

Digital

Labelling

35%

59%

30%

27%

21%

Average

Critial

Identifying

Digital

Labelling

Europeans are the most likely to consider data to be sensitive, especially

critical and labelling data types

Q Please tell us how you personally would classify the following types of

information. Do you see each type as sensitive personal data, personal data

that is not sensitive or not something you would consider personal data?

How sensitive different types of data considered to be: those with most variation from the Global average

% considering to be

“sensitive personal data”

50%

48%

48%

14%

Criminal record

Health records

Your salary

Your religion

GLOBAL average APAC average

People in APAC are less likely to consider health records data to be

sensitive

Q Please tell us how you personally would classify the following types of

information. Do you see each type as sensitive personal data, personal data

that is not sensitive or not something you would consider personal data?

Regional differences

On a regional level, Europeans are slightly more likely to consider a given type of data to be sensitive, and citizens in APAC slightly less so, with this difference driven by the fact that Europeans are more likely to consider critical data to be sensitive, in particular health records.

Europeans are also more likely to consider certain types of labelling data to be more sensitive – sexual orientation, political affiliation and religion – as well as criminal records, whilst those in the Americas are less likely to consider these types of data to be sensitive.

In contrast, vehicle registration data is more likely to be considered sensitive in the Americas, as is location data via mobile phones.

76%

66%

42%

31%

30%

25%

Health records

Criminal record

Sexual orientation

Political affiliation

Vehicle registration information

Your religion

GLOBAL average EUROPE average

In Europe, critical and labelling types of data are considered more sensitive than

elsewhere, with citizens in the Americas least concerned about “labels”

How sensitive different types of data considered to be: those with most variation from the Global average

% considering to be “sensitive personal data”

Q Please tell us how you personally would classify the following types of information. Do you see each

type as sensitive personal data, personal data that is not sensitive or not something you would consider personal data?

57%

52%

50%

49%

26%

18%

Your salary

Location data via

mobile*

Criminal record

Vehicle registration

information

Sexual orientation

Political affiliation

GLOBAL average

AMERICAS average

Methodology

GRBN Trust & Personal Data survey Methodology overview The survey was commissioned by the GRBN in order to

understand: How familiar and concerned people around the globe are

with how their personal data is collected and used How much people trust different types of organisations not

to misuse their personal data Which types of data people consider to be personal data,

and which types sensitive personal data.

Fieldwork was conducted in 4 waves throughout 2014 as follows: February 2014: UK and USA March 2014: Argentina, Brazil and Canada June 2014: Finland, France, Germany, Ireland,

Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden

July 2014: Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand

Fieldwork was conducted by Research Now in 22 of the 24 countries through internet access panels using quota sampling. The achieved sample sizes are shown below, along with information on whether weights have been applied to the achieved sample or not.

In Mongolia and Thailand, fieldwork was conducted by OnDevice using mobile river sampling, which may be a cause for different results in these countries in this survey.

As with all cross-cultural studies, care needs to be taken when comparing and interpreting the results across countries, and regions, due to possible scale-usage bias. Please click here to read a Research Now white paper on this subject. In addition to scale-usage, historical and cultural factors may also influence how people relate to the questions we have asked, in particular the ones concerning trust and sensitivity.


The research universe varied by country as follows….

Country Universe Sampl

e size

Weight

ed

Country Universe

Sampl

e size

Weight

ed

Argentina 18+ year olds 1022 Mexico 18+ year olds 1010

Australia 18+ year olds 1000 Yes

Mongolia 18+ y.o. internet

users 500

Brazil 18+ year olds 1013 New

Zealand 18+ year olds 1011

Canada 18+ year olds 1015 Singapore 18-64 year olds 1008

China 18-64 y.o.

internet users 1000 Yes

South Korea 18-64 year olds 1003

Finland 18+ year olds 1025 Spain 18+ year olds 1001 Yes

France 18+ year olds 1010 Yes Sweden 18+ year olds 1005

Germany 18+ year olds 1005

Taiwan 18-64 y.o.

internet users 992

Ireland 18+ year olds 1009 Yes

Thailand 18+ y.o. internet

users 1000

Italy 18+ year olds 1022 Yes The

Netherlands 18+ year olds 1008

Japan 18+ year olds 1000 Yes UK 18+ year olds 1020 Yes

Malaysia 18-64 y.o.

internet users 1013 Yes

USA 18+ year olds 1015 Yes