Australians are increasingly fighting to reclaim their data from brands as distrust in companies due to misuse of personal data rises, reveals dentsu’s “Data Consciousness Project,” a research report examining how Australians feel about businesses accessing and leveraging their personal data.
Now in its sixth iteration, the Data Consciousness Project reveals 87 per cent of Australians would like to be able to take control of the data they generate and choose who they share it with while 55 per cent of Australians would be interested in receiving financial benefits in exchange for organisations using their data, up from 41 per cent in 2022.
“This research highlights the way AI is going to change how consumers feel about data, privacy and security. Australians are already deeply concerned about the future of AI as it sits at an ethical crossroads, while they are also rapidly starting to experiment with AI technology,” Gabriel Tamborini, dentsu chief experience and gaming officer said.
“For brands, it is increasingly important to be aware of how Australians feel about this, prioritise transparency around use of data and how they are implementing AI to improve consumers experience and digital journey”.
Surveying 3,316 Australians aged between 16 and 64, the report reveals 83 per cent of Australians want to be able to refuse to share their personal data with any organisation while still receiving the same level of service, up from 75 per cent in 2022, and 73 epr cent would expect organisations to use their personal data in a way that benefits them primarily, not the organisation, up from 63 per cent in 2022.
“We are really immersed in a ‘data reclamation’ phase where consumers are really starting to demand more control over their data and how brands access it. The impact of data breaches, scams and hacks being experienced by more Australians and more highly profiled in the news is starting to translate through the numbers we see in this report, with increasing number of Australians wanting better protections and demanding more from brands,” Christine McKinnon, dentsu head of intelligence, said.
“This is all against a backdrop of legal changes to the privacy act but with the onus remaining on brands to respect and protect consumers’ data, the reclamation battle is far from over and brands must start to recognise the need for a positive data value exchange and make moves to re-evaluate how they approach using consumer’s data”.
Only 33 per cent of Australians are happy with the amount of personal data they are providing to organisations, while 31 per cent say they are more comfortable with sharing personal data with companies than they used to be.
Australians are becoming increasingly data aware when it comes to brand personalisation, with Boomers shaking the myth of a lack of understanding with 60 per cent of Boomers aware of how brands track services and online behaviour to target consumers with personalised ads, higher than 53 per cent of all Australians.
A strong majority of Australians (86 per cent) believe organisations will need to demonstrate higher standards of ethical behaviour with the use of personal data, up from 78 per cent in 2022, with 82 per cent of Australians believing the government needs to play a bigger role in regulating the use of personal data by companies.
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing a role in how consumers feel about data security, however ,the increased risk of cyber-attacks and lack of regulation ranks at the bottom of concerns, with 60 per cent of Australians worried about this.
Meanwhile, 64 per cent of Australians are worried about the unethical use of AI and 61 per cent are worried about deepfakes.
Despite concerns around AI, many Australians are already experimenting with the emerging technology, with 47 per cent of Aussies saying they have used smart assistants, 42 per cent have used chatbots or virtual agents and 27 per cent have used natural language generation ie ChatGPT.
