New Zealanders’ attitudes toward privacy are changing as developing technologies and the global pandemic require us to share more personal information.

But three-out-of-five New Zealanders still report concern about businesses sharing their personal information without their permission, information being collected about children online without parental consent, and security of their personal information on the internet.

That’s the message from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s latest insights report, Privacy Awareness and Engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand, which was released today to mark the start of this year’s Privacy Week.

“The pandemic has changed the way we live,” Acting Privacy Commissioner Liz MacPherson said.

“The emergence of COVID-19 has accelerated the trend of us living more online - there’s been a 52 per cent increase in online shopping since 2019.

“We have had to reconsider how tightly we hold some aspects of our privacy. For the most part we’ve accepted the need to share some of our personal information across digital technologies, for example, to help protect our health.”

These results tell us that people still care about how organisations look after their personal information. Three-in-five people would likely consider changing providers if they heard they had poor privacy and security practices

“That’s a wake-up call for organisations to ensure they earn people’s trust or risk losing their business,” Ms MacPherson said. “People must be able to trust in the use of their information, and privacy is the foundation of trust.”

“As well as meeting your legal obligations, the care and protection of New Zealanders’ personal information is critical to an agency’s reputation and ability to innovate in a digital world.”

Starting today, this year’s Privacy Week events feature a variety of free privacy-related online webinars aimed at engaging with everyone who has a hand in safeguarding New Zealanders’ personal information. The theme this year is Privacy – The Foundation of Trust.

Topics include a panel discussion on Tikanga Māori and Privacy: reflections from the High Court review of decisions about Māori Covid-19 vaccination data; a workshop on cyber-incident response best practice; plus specialist privacy expertise for those working in a variety of specific industries including healthcare and education.

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The Privacy Awareness and Engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand insights report is available here on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.

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