OTTAWA – Canadians are heavy users of social networks and other communications technologies, but many are not taking basic steps to protect their personal information, according to a new survey commissioned by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner.
The 2011 Canadians and Privacy Survey, released Thursday, polled 2,000 randomly selected adults in late February and early March and found that 74% of respondents own at least one mobile communications device, such as a cell phone, smart phone or tablet. However, only four in 10 use password locks for the devices, or adjust their settings to limit the sharing of personal information that may be stored on the devices.
It also found that one-third of Canadians use public Wi-Fi sites, such as those located at coffee shops and airports, where on-line communication may not always be protected by encryption. Of those, 85% admitted to some concern about possible risks to the security of their personal information.
Of the 51% of respondents using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, four in five said they take advantage of privacy settings that allow them to control access to their on-line content. Despite that, 45% acknowledged that they are concerned about the associated risks to their privacy.
"Canadians are recognizing that their personal information is not safe in this new digital environment, unless they take concrete measures to protect it," said Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, in a statement. "Unfortunately, however, too few are taking even the most basic precautions, such as setting passwords on their mobile devices. We encourage people to use passwords, encryption, privacy settings and every other available measure to safeguard their personal information, because the meaningful protection of privacy has to start with the individual."
Other highlights of the poll include:
– An overwhelming majority of respondents want tough sanctions against organizations that fail to properly protect the privacy of individuals. More than eight in 10 respondents wanted to see measures such as publicly naming offending organizations, fining them, or taking legal action against them;
– There was widespread concern about businesses that request too much personal information, don’t keep it secure, sell it to other organizations, or use it to send spam or make other unsolicited marketing contact. About nine in 10 respondents found such practices disturbing;
– More than eight in 10 respondents (83%) said Internet companies should ask their customers for permission to track their online behaviour and Internet usage; and
– Only 30% of respondents felt they had a good or very good grasp of their privacy rights under the law. Still, 74% of respondents felt they are doing a good or very good job of protecting their own privacy. Younger respondents were the least likely to rate their knowledge of privacy rights as very good, or to have confidence in their ability to protect it.
