Only seven per cent of Canadians are “very confident” that their personal information is being protected, according to CA Canada poll.
As part of its 2008 Security and Privacy Survey, CA Canada found that Canadians lacked confidence in retailers, governments and banks due to damaged reputation from high-profile security and privacy breaches. The 400-person consumer survey found that 85 per cent of polled respondents cited a general loss of trust with business and governmental organizations.
“Canadian businesses and governments that are managing consumer data and information without robust data security are performing a high wire act without a net,” Renee Lalonde, regional vice-president at CA Canada, said in a release. “All it takes is one major security or privacy breach and the confidence and satisfaction customers have in those organizations is severely compromised.”
Of the three types of organizations, Canadian retailers fared the worst, with less than one per cent of consumers saying they are very confident their personal and private online information is being protected. The survey found that 84 per cent of Canadians believe retailers are not spending enough time and money on on-line security and privacy measures.
Additionally, financial institutions performed poorly, with only nine per cent of Canadians indicating they were very confident that their privacy is being protected. Federal and provincial governments performed the best, but only 12 per cent of Canadians indicated a strong confidence in their ability to protect private data.