Many Canadians aren’t confident businesses are protecting their personal information

Many Canadians are not very confident about their ability to protect personal information when using new technologies, and want organizations to inform them of how they use such information, results from a poll by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada suggest.

In a phone survey of 1,513 residents across Canada conducted last fall, 56% reported that they aren’t confident in understanding how new technologies affect their privacy, the OPC said.

The number of Canadians who aren’t confident about privacy risks has been steadily rising since 2000, and 70% of those polled also reported feeling they have less protection of their personal information in their daily lives than they did a decade ago, the OPC noted.

More than half (51%) of those polled said they were “very concerned” about posting contact information online, and 55% said they have chosen not to install, or have uninstalled, an app that they feel requires too much personal information, according to the office.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents also said they have chosen not to use a site or a service because they were uncomfortable with the terms of the privacy policy.

OPC survey: Canadians are increasingly anxious about privacy in the face of new technology. (infographic) priv.gc.ca/resource/tool-…

— OPC (@PrivacyPrivee) April 4, 2013

Still, half of those polled said they rarely or never consult online privacy policies, the OPC noted.

“Canadian consumers have grown accustomed to, and expect, protections when they use products and services,” Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart noted in a statement on the survey findings.

Notably, only 13% of those surveyed said they feel businesses are serious about their responsibility to protect personal information, and 60% said they have asked an organization to share how it will use such information.

In addition, only 21% said they think the federal government takes its responsibility to protect personal information seriously.

A strong majority (97%) of those polled also said they would want to be notified by an organization if their personal information had been compromised somehow.