Research reveals 60% of Aussies still not worried about sharing personal details with service providers after recent data breaches

• Just 40%, on average, are worried about corporations collecting their personal information
• 28% provide some fake personal details when signing up to services
• 52% don’t read privacy T&Cs before sharing their personal information
• 79% believe a digital ID can still be hacked and leaked in a data breach

A recent survey has revealed just how indifferent Aussies remain when it comes to giving personal details to service providers – even after recent data breaches that have made headline news. A new survey from a leading finance platform has found that 60 per cent, on average, are comfortable or indifferent about giving personal details to large corporations when signing up for services. However, the proportion of those concerned is higher (at 57-68 per cent) when asked to give banking information, face photos, tax file numbers or passport details – with 28 per cent giving at least one fake detail about themselves.

The findings were derived from a mid-October survey of an independent panel of 1010 Australians, commissioned by leading finance platform Money.com.au this month, after several data breaches were reported at large Australians corporations. The full survey results, including age and State breakdowns, can be found here: money.com.au/research/personal-data

Concerning proportion of Australians comfortable giving their data away.

Money.com.au asked respondents to indicate how concerned they are, if at all, about giving their personal information when signing up to a service such as a subscription, telco plan, financial product, eCommerce site, app service, utility plan or accommodation service. Money presented a list of 14 items – from date of birth and home address, to banking and passport details – and respondents could choose whether they felt ‘concerned,’ ‘neutral’ or ‘comfortable’ about giving away those details. Across all items, an average of 40 per cent of respondents indicated they are concerned about providing such details.

Money.com.au found that respondents are most concerned about providing their bank transaction history (68 per cent concerned), bank account details (65 per cent concerned), tax file number (58 per cent), photo of their face (58 per cent) and passport details (57 per cent).

Respondents are least concerned about revealing their gender (with 90 per cent were comfortable or neutral) number of dependents (82 per cent comfortable or neutral), date of birth (75 per cent comfortable or neutral), home address (74 per cent comfortable or neutral) and relationship status (71 per cent).

Analysing responses across age groups, Money.com.au found that younger respondents are more comfortable about giving their personal details: an average of 45 per cent of over-50s are concerned about giving away personal details, compared with just 31 per cent of under-30s.

Licensed financial adviser and Money.com.au spokesperson Helen Baker, said, “I am surprised by the level of comfort that the majority of survey respondents have around sharing their private information. Considering recent major customer data breaches, I think we need to start questioning why some service providers request personal information that is not relevant to their provision of the service. It may feel ‘safe’ to share personal details such as date of birth, gender, and home address, but a company holding a combination of these can leave individuals vulnerable in a data breach. Malicious hackers, if armed with a few personal details about an individual, can steal their identity, sell their identity, create fake accounts or passports, or incur debt on behalf of the individual.”

Money.com.au also found that more than half (52 per cent) of respondents don’t read privacy terms and conditions when providing personal details to sign up to a subscription, telco plan, financial product, eCommerce site or other online services.

Australians are unlikely to share fake personal details as a means to protect their data.

Money.com.au asked respondents if they provide fake details about themselves when signing up to services. More than a quarter (28 per cent) admit to providing some fake detail. Date of birth is the most common fake information that respondents tend to provide (chosen by 15 per cent), followed by home address (13 per cent) and name (12 per cent).

Younger respondents are more likely to provide fake details: 32 per cent of under-30s tend to fabricate at least one personal detail online, compared with 29 per cent of 31-50-year-olds and 24 per cent of over-50s. Specifically, under-30s are more likely to fake their name, at 16 per cent, compared with 12 per cent of 31-50-year-olds and 9 per cent of over-50s.

Overall, a higher proportion of men tend to falsify their personal details: 31 per cent of men have provided fake information, compared with 25 per cent of women.

Helen said, “There are safeguards individuals could take to protect their accounts, and information. For instance, using a different password for every account and updating those passwords regularly, while setting up two-factor authentication, can provide an additional layer of protection. In light of recent data breaches that have made headlines, I believe large corporations will also become more diligent by updating their security systems regularly to prevent future data breaches.”

Following the Optus data breach, the Federal Government has put forward the idea that it could centralise identity information through the myGovID digital identity system, as a solution. This would mean individuals would not be required to provide ID documents multiple times to service providers. Australians would input their personal information into their existing MyGov account and only businesses verified to join the ‘Trusted Digital Identity Framework’ would be able to access an individual’s data. Money.com.au found that eight in ten (79 per cent) respondents are concerned that this proposed digital ID could still be hacked and compromised in data breaches.