Online privacy: the most trusted services
In September 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) conducted a privacy study to unravel the attitudes, motives, perceptions and behaviours of end users towards online privacy. The study consisted of 9 200 interviews and was conducted in 14 countries.
Consumers’ readiness to allow the usage of their digitised personal data by communication service providers and third parties, and their willingness to share that data in the context of the value they could derive from doing so was also assessed.
A key finding shows that Internet users in South Africa have significant concerns about the use and misuse of the personal and behavioural data they leave behind with every online interaction.
The ‘digital self,’ as defined by NSN, is a vast collection of personal information scattered throughout the Internet. Fragments of personal and behavioural information are left behind every time an individual interacts with a website, or uses a mobile device via cable or fixed networks.
The results
89% of respondents see privacy as an important topic, with 87% being concerned about privacy violations. 46% feeling they lack control over their personal data.
South African respondents reported greater concerns around privacy issues than their global counterparts in almost every benchmark in the survey: for example, 34% stated that they had experienced privacy violations, compared with only 26% of the global sample.
80% of respondents said they were interested in using a single portal to manage and supervise the various permissions they have given different parties to access their personal data.
The survey found that communication service providers were among the most trusted organizations regarding an individual’s privacy and data security. In fact, South African consumers ranked Internet Service Providers and Google as second in terms of levels of trust.
Mobile and landline telephone providers were seen as more trustworthy than governments, insurance companies, online portals, loyalty card providers and online shops and communities.
“Consumers clearly see communication service providers as among the most trusted organizations to safeguard their privacy and personal data, a fact that points to the real potential for service providers to help their customers better protect their digital self,” said Keith Miller, Subscriber Data Management Director, Nokia Siemens Networks.
“However, if consumers are to fully unleash the value that lies within their digital self, service providers need to address privacy and security concerns. And they need to make plain the benefits of making use of personal data,” Miller continued.
According to the study, the more relevant a consumer perceives the benefit of a service or offer to be, the less crucial privacy barriers become, as long as the benefits are clear, concrete and measurable.
Consumers who are more open to leveraging their personal data, characterized in the survey as “Selective” consumers, make up a greater proportion of respondents in South Africa than in many other countries surveyed (53% compared to the global average of 44%).
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