Survey Reveals Data Breach as the Top Privacy Concern for Australians

Are you worried about your privacy? 

Well, you’re not alone.  

The Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey (ACAPS) 2023 evaluated Australians’ attitudes and experiences in relation to privacy, data breaches, biometrics, artificial intelligence, and more. The results are alarming.  

Australians View Data Breach as the Biggest Privacy Risk 

January 28 was Data Privacy Day, an international effort to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust. 

With data breach scandals across major companies like Medibank and Optus, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of their personal information.  

“There is a strong desire for organisations to do more to advance privacy rights, including minimising the amount of information they collect, taking extra steps to protect it and deleting it when no longer required.” 
— Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, Angelene Falk 

Key Survey Findings 

  • 62% see the protection of their personal information as a major concern in their life 

  • 50% believe if they choose to use a service, they have no choice but to accept what the service does with their data 

  • 47% were told by an organisation that their personal information was involved in a data breach the previous year 

  • 76% experienced harm due to a data breach  

  • 91% are concerned about companies sending consumer information overseas 

  • 84% want greater control over the collection and use of their personal information 

There is Strong Support for Privacy Law Reform 

89% of respondents would like government agencies to do more to protect their personal information.  

“The OAIC will use the findings to inform our ongoing input into the review of the Privacy Act and to target our activities at areas of high concern among the community.” 
— Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, Angelene Falk 

In an interview, Certex Managing Director, Dianne Gibert, provides insight into the Government’s proposed privacy reforms.  

According to Dianne, most businesses “have some recognition that they need to report if there’s been a breach”. However, many are unaware that “you don’t get a lot of time and there’s an enormous amount of work to do.”   

Read the full article below.

Takeaways for Businesses 

The OAIC proposes 5 takeaways for organisations based on the ACAPS: 

  1. Go back to basics: 

    1. Don’t collect personal information you don’t need 

    2. Securely store personal information 

    3. Delete or deidentify personal information when it is no longer needed 

  2. Help individuals protect their privacy and make informed choices, for example, through privacy education and being clear and transparent about how you use their information. 

  3. Ask yourself whether the community would consider your practices to be fair and reasonable. 

  4. If you experience a data breach, quickly take steps to prevent customers suffering harm, report the breach and notify individuals if it is likely to result in serious harm, and consider making improvements to your privacy practices. 

  5. Make good privacy practices part of your point of difference. 

Do You Have a Data Breach Response Plan? 

Certex is proud to support many of our clients with data breach response plans and privacy security. We are risk-management professionals. Through robust risk assessments, we can help identify and address cybersecurity hazards.    

Certex’s iSuite of risk management programs include iPrivacy and iCyber.  Please contact us for more information.  

Alicja Gibert