Intellectual Property Law

New ICO survey reveals level of public concern over data protection

The Information Commissioner's Office has released a survey of 1,000 people across the UK, which it claims shows that the public has 'woken up' to privacy. Whilst the survey itself is a huge set of figures (28 pages of them, a real treat for stats fans), an ICO press release and a BBC News article help shed some light on the survey's implications. Most notably, over 70% of those surveyed felt powerless over how their personal data is looked after (see page 3 of the survey) and over 85% refuse to give personal data when given the option.

This survey should prove of great interest and relevance to organisations that handle (or want to handle) personal data; with public trust in this area having disappeared, organisations must look to regain it. In our view, openness and transparency about data protection policies and processes would certainly assist. For most, the privacy policy on their website is the nearest thing they have to a public statement on their data protection policies and practices. For organisations that rely on personal data to do business (and therefore, public confidence and trust in their handling of that data), now may be the time to make their data protection policies public.

Full post as published by IMPACT on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).