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Awareness of data protection seems to be high in Germany: most Germans (65 per cent) believe that they themselves are primarily responsible for protecting their personal data. Only 15 per cent of consumers put the onus on the German government or the legislative bodies. Just 9 per cent of Germans see providers as responsible for protecting personal data, while 8 per cent think that this is the job of the relevant data protection authorities. Two per cent believe that the responsibility lies with consumer protection bodies. When asked about who is responsible for protecting personal data, there was a clear difference in the answers provided by young people (i.e. up to the age of 29) and older respondents. While 66.8% of older respondents accept responsibility for data security, only 47.5% of younger respondents see themselves as responsible. Younger people tend to believe that the onus mainly lies on the responsible providers.
These were the main findings of a recent study conducted by the market research institute nhi². The study was commissioned by the bonus programme Payback to mark International Data Protection Day on 28 January.
Consumers in Germany treat different types of personal data in very different ways. They have the gravest reservations about revealing their own bank details (89 per cent). They are also very cautious with regard to medical files and medical histories (85 per cent), information relating to income (83 per cent) and personal photos (82 per cent). In contrast, information on hobbies and interests (30 per cent), date of birth (38 per cent), email addresses (48 per cent) and purchases (49 per cent) is seen as less sensitive.
It is very important to Germans that they know how their data is being handled. More than 90 per cent feel uncertain and concerned about how companies treat stored data, whether the data is passed on to third parties, and who has access to the data. More than 80 per cent of Germans fear that strangers could gain access to their bank account and that everything they do as consumers is being tracked by third parties. 80 per cent also felt harassed by advertising campaigns. Only 1 per cent of respondents claimed to have no concerns.
About the nhi² study
The study was carried out by telephone by nhi² AG Interviews International in January 2015. A total of 1,000 randomly selected people aged between 18 and 80 were surveyed. The study can be downloaded here.
About nhi²
nhi² AG Interviews International is a Bonn-based market research institute that conducts telephone and online surveys all over the world. The company has 170 screen spaces available for its telephone surveys. nhi² is a member of ADM Arbeitskreis Deutscher Markt- und Sozialforschungsinstitute e.V., a business association representing the interests of private-sector and social research agencies in Germany. More information is available at www.nhi2.de.
Contact and further information:
Jürgen Heno
nhi² AG Interviews International
Am Metternicher Hof 15
53111 Bonn