How much data do you share with the public sector?

As GDPR legislation looms ever closer for businesses, new research has revealed just how little trust the British public has for online use of their private information

Nearly 90% of British workers are concerned about the amount of data they share publicly, and how vulnerable they could be if the information found its way into the wrong hands, according to new reports by Probrand. One in three Brits began raising their concerns following the 2017 NHS ransomware attacks, raising awareness of the need for privacy legislation and a greater understanding of our own digital footprint.

The research found that the British public has less faith in some public sector organisations than others, with the security of the National Health Service systems raising the biggest concern for 87% of people. Of those respondents who said they had worries about cyber security within the NHS, 34% stated they were ‘very concerned’ about this.

85% of the population said they were concerned about the security of data held by HMRC which can include everything from income tax records to child benefit information meanwhile, 81% are worried about the information held about them by local government websites and servers. Research revealed that 80% of British adults said they are concerned about the security of data held about them by the DVLA, while 78% are anxious about the data held with the Police force.

“Private and public sector organisations must reassure customers about the security measures they have and ensure best practice policies and procedures are in place to train and direct employees, encrypt, store, backup and transport personal and business critical data securely,” said Matt Royle, Marketing Director at Probrand. “Importantly, as the depth of personal data has increased along with the threats to acquire this valuable data, so the EU has applied measures to make organisations more accountable for data protection.”

“Now is the time for organisations to bring their data protection up to speed and regain customer trust in the services they provide in doing so.”

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