The majority of Australians are concerned about data privacy, but retailers are trusted more than businesses, brands and NGOs when it comes to protecting their personal data.
The findings come from consumer intelligence platform Toluna, which surveyed 1063 Australians between 9-11 August 2021. Its research showed varying levels of trust between companies, and that Australians are willing to give up some of their personal information in exchange for loyalty rewards, for entertainment purposes, or even to receive targeted advertising.
Privacy concerns
According to the research, 85% of those surveyed say they’re concerned about the information collected by companies, with half saying companies are requesting too much personal data for their liking.
The biggest concern for consumers around data privacy is the possibility of the data being hacked and their personal information stolen (76%), closely followed by the concern that their data will be shared or sold to other companies (58%).
Considering the trustworthiness of other organisations, 40% of respondents say they don’t trust businesses with their personal data, with 35% having the same distrust in brands.
Conversely, 36% of respondents say they do trust retailers with their personal data (vs only 26% who didn’t).
Key findings
The research also found:
- 40% were happy to share their demographic information with brands, such as age, gender, and income. But only around a third said they’d be willing to share purchase history (33%) or online browsing behaviour (29%), with few willing to share real-time location information, such as GPS data or browser IP (18%).
- Respondents thought it was worth sharing their personal data with loyalty programs, with 61% of respondents stating they get at least some value and recognition for sharing things like personal data and shopping habits.
- Feelings were split when it came to targeted advertising, with 40% of respondents saying they were unwilling to receive targeted ads based on their browsing history versus 37% who were ok with targeted ads.
Need for transparency
Sej Patel, Country Director, Toluna, Australia & New Zealand says that businesses across all industries would do well to see how they can reward customers for sharing their data, while also taking all necessary steps to keep it safe.
“Understanding your customers is a core component of business, but as consumers become more savvy about data collection, transparency is key,” he says.
“Businesses need to clearly state the reasons they’re collecting customer information and provide adequate incentives in order to continue to build trust.”
