Research industry calls for more transparency on privacy pro

Friday 16 November 2012

Research industry calls for more transparency on privacy protection

Major survey of consumer attitudes on personal data

to be revealed at Conference

Every day, Australians freely give personal information to retailers, banks, health funds, government agencies and countless other organisations, often via the internet but are they aware of what happens to their information?

A major survey of attitudes towards personal data collection and knowledge of how, when and where it might be used shows a majority of people don’t understand what becomes of their information or how organisations use it.

Commissioned by the Association of Market and Social Research Organisation (AMSRO) as part of its privacy code review process the exclusive nationwide poll was conducted by Newspoll and surveyed consumer attitudes towards privacy to examine what Australians know and how much they care about data privacy.

The results show that just under ten percent of those questioned claimed they know a lot about how companies and organisations protect their personal information while a quarter claimed they knew nothing about it. Between these extremes, close to two thirds of the population said they knew “a little” about how these organisations protect personal information.

“As researchers, AMSRO members are aware that we hold the privileged position of being allowed into people’s lives. We work hard to protect that honour by ensuring that as we collect information, we also protect the confidentiality of participants. As an industry we recognise that the long-term success of research depends on the cooperation of the public.’

“This poll demonstrates that while people might be willing to share their information, there is a need for people to be kept informed about how that data is used. Market and social research works hard to protect personal data. To ensure quality research is not lost to business and government, it’s important that government and industry continue to work together to ensure the public understands the protective measures market and social research have in place and the difference between research and other marketing practices” said Hugh Amoyal, President AMSRO.

In addition to gauging how much is known about protection of privacy, the poll also tested community response to questions about providing personal information over the internet.

The findings will be released at the ‘Data Privacy, Marketing, Research and the Consumer Conference’. The guest speaker will be the Australian Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim. Other guests will include the N.S.W Privacy Commissioner, Dr Elizabeth Coombs.

Event Details

Date Friday 16th November 2012

Time 3.00 PM – 6.30 PM

Venue Forum Restaurant

The Darlington Centre

City Road, The University of Sydney

ends

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