November 13, 2017

A recent ICO survey has revealed a significant deficit of trust that organisations must address if they want to innovate with personal information.

The research found that only one fifth of the UK public (20%) have trust and confidence in companies and organisations storing their personal information. Other statistics show that British adults are broadly unfamiliar with the specifics of how their personal data is being used by companies and organisations in the UK, with only one in ten (10%) saying they have a good understanding of how their personal data is used.

The survey was conducted by ComRes on behalf of the ICO and is designed as benchmark measurement for the ICO’s Information Rights Strategic Plan 2017-2021. One of the ICO’s main strategic goals over the next four years is to increase the UK public’s trust and confidence in how data is used and made available.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• UK citizens are more likely to trust public bodies than private companies or organisations regarding holding or sharing their personal information;
• three in five (61%) say they have trust and confidence in the NHS or local GP to store and use their personal information while half say the same of the police (53%) or national government departments and organisations (49%);
• one in ten UK adults (12%) say they have trust and confidence in social messaging platforms storing and using their personal information; and
• less than one in ten (8%) of UK adults say they have a good understanding of how their personal data is made available to third parties and the public by companies and organisations in the UK.

Older UK adults are more likely than their younger counterparts to say they have little trust and confidence in companies and organisations storing and using their personal information.

Deputy Commissioner, Steve Wood, said: “We want to see improvements in these figures. It’s time for organisations to start building the UK public’s trust and confidence in how data is used and made available.” To read the ICO press release in full and for access to the survey, click here.