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Public mistrust grows over gov't data policy

Kable

Published: 29 Oct 2009 11:53 GMT

A survey on behalf of the Taxpayers' Alliance has found that nearly two thirds of people strongly mistrust the state sector to protect their personal information.

The research, carried out by PoliticsHome with 1,353 adults, found that 62 percent of respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "The government can be trusted to keep our personal information secure", while a further 24 percent somewhat disagreed. Only 12 percent agreed.

The survey found that mistrust varied depending on respondents' politics: 78 percent of Conservative supporters strongly disagreed with trusting the government to protect their data, compared with 64 percent of Liberal Democrats and 36 percent of Labour supporters. However, even among the last group, the number trusting the state sector to protect data was still half those expressing some degree of mistrust.

The survey served to launch Big Brother Watch, a campaign run by the right-wing Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group to highlight "the erosion of civil liberties in the UK".

The research also found that 45 percent strongly agreed that their freedoms "are being eroded by a Big Brother state", with 34 percent agreeing somewhat. Again, Conservative supporters were much more likely to agree than Labour voters. It also found large majorities opposing the use of CCTV cameras that record conversations and electronic monitoring of household waste.