Half (51%) of Global Citizens are More Concerned About Online Privacy Than One Year Ago: Cybercriminals Leading Source of Worry

Toronto, ON –Trust in the Internet continues to be threatened by concerns about privacy and security issues, a new Ipsos survey for the Centre for International Governance Innovation has found.

The 2017 CIGI-Ipsos Global Study on Internet Security and Trust, which was carried out across 24 economies for a third consecutive year, found that a majority (55%) of global citizens with internet access are more concerned (28% much more / 27% somewhat more) about their online privacy compared to a year ago (down 2 points from 2016). In Canada, half (51%, +2 pts) say they’ve grown more concerned about online privacy over the past year (22% much more / 29% somewhat more), while concern is slightly higher in the United States, at 60% (27% much / 33% somewhat), up 3 points from 2016.

Concern about online privacy is most likely to have grown in Egypt (72%), followed by Hong Kong (China) (70%), India (70%), South Africa (70%), Brazil (65%), Mexico (63%), Indonesia (61%), Nigeria (61%), the US (60%), Australia (57%), South Korea (57%), Kenya (56%), China (55%), Turkey (54%), France (52%), Canada (51%), Italy (51%), Poland (51%), Japan (50%), Great Britain (49%), Germany (46%), Sweden (43%), Tunisia (42%), and Pakistan (23%).

Asked to identify what is driving their rising concern in relation their online privacy, eight in ten (82%) global citizens say cybercriminals are a source of their rising concern (up 3 points from 2016). Three in four (74%) say internet companies are a source of their rising concern (+2 pts), while two in three (65%) indicate their own government is a source of concern (+5 pts).

Indonesia (96%) has the highest incidence of people who say cybercriminals are driving their increased concern about online privacy, followed by South Africa (91%), Mexico (90%), Brazil (86%), the US (86%), Canada (85%), Great Britain (85%), Hong Kong (China) (85%), South Korea (85%), Sweden (85%), France (84%), Australia (81%), Italy (81%), Poland (80%), Nigeria (79%), Germany (78%), China (76%), Turkey (75%), India (73%), Japan (73%), Kenya (73%), Tunisia (72%), Egypt (68%), and Pakistan (67%).

The survey also finds that, of the one in five global citizens (22%) who never buy goods or services online, half (49%) refuse to do so because they simply do not trust online shopping. Online-shopping holdouts in Tunisia lead in terms of those who avoid online shopping because they don’t trust it, at 71%. Poland is next in line at 59%, followed by Hong Kong (China) (56%), Turkey (54%), Pakistan (52%), Mexico (51%), South Africa (51%), Australia (50%), Nigeria (45%), the US (44%), Kenya (44%), Germany (43%), Brazil (42%), Egypt (40%), Canada (38%), South Korea (37%), Sweden (36%), France (35%), Great Britain (33%), India (32%), Italy (32%), Indonesia (32%), Japan (25%), and China (18%).

The findings show that a lack of trust in the Internet has particularly hindered e-commerce in the Middle East/Africa and Latin America. Where goods are made has also proven to affect e-commerce, as more than half (55%) of global citizens say they would rather purchase online goods and services made in their home country. Conversely, only seven per cent of respondents indicate they prefer goods and services made in China – an opinion shared by just 4% of Canadians and 5% of Americans.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll for CIGI conducted between December 23, 2016 and March 21, 2017. The survey was conducted in 24 economies – Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States – and involved 24,255 Internet users. Twenty of the economies utilized the Ipsos Internet panel system while Tunisia was conducted via Ipsos Computer-Aided Telephone Interviewing (CATI), and Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan utilized face-to-face interviewing. Respondents were aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and 16-64 in all other economies. Approximately 1,000+ individuals were surveyed in each economy and are weighted to match the online population in each economy surveyed. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, a poll of 1,000 is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points. For those surveys conducted by CATI, the margin of error accuracy is +/- 3.1. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

For CIGI:

Fen Hampson
Director, Global Security & Politics Program
+1 518 885-2444 ext. 7201

For Ipsos:

Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Global
Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2001
[email protected]

About CIGI

The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, then co-CEO of Research In Motion (BlackBerry), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit www.cigionline.org

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

Ipsos has media partnerships with the most prestigious news organizations around the world. In Canada, the U.S., UK, and internationally, Ipsos Public Affairs is the media polling supplier to Reuters News, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. We provide boutique-style customer service and work closely with our clients, while also undertaking global research.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 88 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.