BUSINESS
Privacy concerns balloon in Ireland
16-01-2003
by
A new survey shows that Irish people are growing more worried about the misuse of their personal data and are losing patience with unsolicited SMS and e-mails.
Conducted by Millward Brown IMS and published by the Data Protection Commissioner Joe Meade, the survey revealed that since a similar 1997 poll, public anxiety about privacy has grown sharply. A majority of Irish people now agree with the statement, "If you use the Internet, your privacy is threatened," compared with just 37 percent who agreed with those sentiments six years ago. The number of people who strongly agree with this statement has jumped from 14 percent to 28 percent.
Direct mailings to the home tend to be tolerated by the public, but researchers found that "spam," or unsolicited commercial e-mail, and text messages are infuriating most Irish users, although 18 to 24 year olds tended to find SMS direct marketing less annoying. Most respondents also said they feel that businesses regularly encroach on their privacy.
Overall respondents ranked privacy as more important to them than other key issues like equality in the workplace, ethics in public office and consumer protection.
The survey also offered insight into public trust about the government's handling of their personal information, with potentially disastrous ramifications for take-up of planned e-government initiatives. Barely one half of adults said they trust government agencies to deal with their personal details in a "fair and proper manner," and one quarter of respondents expressed actual distrust.
With the public services broker model that Ireland is currently developing under the Reach initiative, the government will be encouraging the public to register personal details in a secure electronic system that will make it easier for them to do business with the government on-line. Reach has always said it is putting a major priority on giving the public complete control over what information people store or release. But the levels of distrust revealed by the survey may mean it will be difficult to inspire citizens to use on-line government services once they have been developed.
"It's something that the Data Protection Commissioner has always emphasised, that the success of e-government and e-commerce in general is dependent on public credibility and public trust," said the Assistant Data Protection Commissioner Ronnie Downes. "A renewed emphasis on right to privacy and data protection rights has to go hand in hand in the Commissioner's view with progress towards e-government the survey does show certain levels of unease that must be countered."
The Commissioner is calling on the government to take proactive measures to provide the kinds of reassurance that the public needs.
Businesses are also on warning from the Commissioner to examine their data policies and insure that if they hold information about customers, including details of product use or financial information, this data is collected fairly, kept only for a specific and lawful purpose, and kept only as long as necessary.
Under the Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2002, which is being enacted soon, the Commissioner has a new range of powers, including the ability to conduct "privacy audits" that inspect whether companies have adhered to these guidelines. While Downes said that the Commissioner would not necessarily need to inform companies that an audit was about to happen, he rejected the notion that the Commissioner would seek to "raid" premises or approach audits in a hostile way.
"He wants to give businesses the opportunity to get their house in order, and an audit is just one part of that process," Downes said.
Creating successful email surveys: Denise Cox of email specialist Newsweaver argues that you can tap into your readers' likes or dislikes by surveying them.
