Australians Want Control Over Cloud
- 80 percent don’t know where data is stored
- 70 percent want data to be held in Aust.
- Companies should need permission to relocate info
Australians believe there should be Government action to give them more control over where their personal data is stored when they make use of Internet-based services, a national poll has shown.
The poll, commissioned by the OzHub industry alliance from researchers AusPoll, has found a majority of Australians use Internet-based – or cloud – services but very few know where their personal information is being stored.
More than 70 per cent of Australians polled used social networking sites and online email services. A third of people said they used other cloud services that required them to provide their personal information for storage on remote servers.
However, of those who used cloud email or social networking services, more than 80 per cent did not know where their data was being stored, and three quarters of those using other cloud services did not know where their personal data was held.
But this did not mean Australians were not concerned about where their data was stored. Big majorities of respondents said they would be concerned if their data was being held overseas, and more than 70 percent would prefer that the data was held in Australia.
There was a great concern that the governments of other countries could be legally able to access personal data if it was stored overseas. Eighty six percent of respondents were concerned, or very concerned about this possibility.
Finally, there was a view that the Federal Government should act to require companies to gain permission before moving personal data overseas (87 Per cent), or at least require cloud service providers to tell consumers where they were going to store personal data (88 per cent).
There was a strong view that the Government should set the standard by requiring all Government agencies to store Australians’ data in Australia (85 per cent).
Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au
