Majority of New Zealanders Support Greater Police Surveillance of our Roads and Bank Monitoring of Credit Card Use

New Zealanders will tolerate employers tracking their internet use, but they don’t want the government to be able to do so

New research shows 86 percent of New Zealanders support greater police surveillance of our roads and motorways and 69 percent are in favour of banks increasing surveillance of credit card use.

The results from the Unisys Security Index™ conducted by Consumer Link are part of a larger study to understand New Zealander’s response to increased surveillance in environments ranging from the workplace to the nation’s roads.

“We wanted to understand how New Zealanders feel about surveillance in different situations. The research findings show New Zealanders’ support towards increased surveillance varies significantly depending on the context: who is conducting surveillance of what activity and, we suspect, the perceived personal benefit of the activity,” said Mr Brett Hodgson, Managing Director, Unisys New Zealand.

As part of the April 2010 Unisys Security Index, an additional question was asked to see whether people were in favour or not of increasing surveillance in the following circumstances:
• Employers increasing surveillance of a worker’s internet usage
• Government increasing surveillance of personal internet usage
• Banks increasing surveillance of people’s credit card usage
• Police increasing surveillance on roads and motorways

The highest level of support for increased surveillance was on roads and motorways, with 86 percent of New Zealanders in favour, perhaps reflecting a desire for even greater safety on the nation’s roads.

Similarly, high support was recorded for increased surveillance by banks of credit card usage, with 69 percent of New Zealanders in favour of it. The desire for increased security in this area is backed up by the Unisys Security Index which found that 55 percent of people are extremely or very concerned about other people obtaining their credit or debit card details, making it the top security concern overall for New Zealanders1.

“Yet when it came to increasing government surveillance of personal internet use, only 39 percent of those surveyed are in favour while 55 percent are opposed,” said Mr Hodgson.

“Meanwhile, 62 percent of New Zealanders are in favour of employers increasing employee internet surveillance, and 30 percent are not in favour. This comparatively moderate level of support suggests that while people may not like the idea, they tolerate and understand the right of an employer to know how their equipment is being used.

“What is clear from this research is that New Zealanders hold divergent attitudes to surveillance depending on the context in which it is used and the public’s perception of the perceived benefits or otherwise,” he said.

Looking forward, Unisys predicts that there will be increased use of intelligent surveillance equipment driven by better technology and a change in the way that surveillance data is used.

“Surveillance systems are becoming more sophisticated and intelligent. Real time or ‘event detection’ technology can identify a security breach as it occurs and initiate an immediate action instead of simply recording activity to be reviewed after the incident has occurred,” said Mr Hodgson.

“Ultimately, this research reinforces that the successful implementation of any new surveillance programme requires clear consultation with the parties involved so that they know the purpose and intended benefits of the measure being introduced,” Mr Hodgson concluded.

ENDS

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